Chef creates US$25,000 taco — but no takers yet

MEXICO CITY — Shrimp, caviar, truffle and gold flakes aren’t standard ingredients in Mexico’s popular tacos. But chef Juan Licerio Alcala uses them to create the world’s most expensive taco at US$25,000 (S$35,450).

No one has ordered one. Yet.

The handheld dish made of a corn or wheat tortilla folded around a filling is low-cost fare in Mexico.

Licerio, the chef at the Grand Velas Los Cabos Resort, a luxury vacation destination in Baja California, told AFP he decided to think outside the box.

“People are excited and a little surprised about how you can eat a taco for US$25,000 (497,000 pesos) when you can find one on the street for 10 pesos,” he said.

“Then I explain the delicacy, the technique and the harmony that they will lift from the plate, and that it’s worth it.”

To make the over-the-top dish, the chef takes a corn tortilla speckled with 24 carat gold flakes and fills it with Kobe beef, shrimp, Almas Beluga caviar and black truffle Brie cheese.

The taco is dressed with a salsa based on Morita chiles and civet coffee, a pricey liquid made from the fermented droppings of a civet which has eaten the berries of a coffee plant.

For good measure, gold flakes are sprinkled on top.

A week after the outrageously pricey dish hit the menu, no one has ordered it, the chef admitted.

But he said many have shown interest, mostly US customers who like to “push the boundaries”.

Ordering the world’s most expensive taco has its own particular method. First, a customer has to put down a US$12,500 deposit and already be staying in the presidential suite.

The dish is presented in the middle of the desert encircled by motorcycles, or during a marriage proposal.

“We can adjust to the guest,” Licerio said.

If money is no object, the chef has just the tipple to complement the taco: The luxury tequila Pasion Azteca, at US$150,000 a bottle. AFP