Humble bites to haute cuisine!

Imagine breaking the bank for a treat that was once “a poor man’s food” back then. Some foods have had the privilege of getting the rags-to-riches upgrade; from being an everyday common meal to an expensive delicacy. But how?LobsterLobster was once plentiful in North America, that they would allegedly wash ashore in piles up to two feet high! With abundance like that, the crustacean would become a source of food during hard times. And sure enough, they were cheap, too. Hence, lobster was served to prisoners, apprentices, and slaves during the colonial era. Canning made lobster easy to preserve and store for long journeys. With this, it reached the inland markets. Rail companies and restaurants began serving the food to those unfamiliar with coastal food. With time, demand for the crustacean rose sharply, and by the 1880s, it became a favourite! But due to its perishability, difficulty in farming, low meat yield, and the time it takes to reach the marketable size, the price was quite high. Today in India, a large Indian sea lobster costs about Rs 1,800 to 2,500 per kg. Crayfish. Red boiled crawfishes on table in rustic style, closeup. Lobster closeup. Border desig. Top view Humble bites to haute cuisine | Photo Credit: Timolina Quinoa.You may have seen or heard of this item as a health kick food. Quinoa was a staple in the Andes for thousands of years, but in Bolivia, it was seen as food for the poor. By the early 2000s, quinoa became marketed as a superfood, which was high in protein and gluten free. Global demand rose much faster than supply, since quinoa was traditionally grown in chosen few places, like the high altitudes of Peru and Bolivia. Prices roughly tripled from 2006 to 2013. Many Andean quinoa farmers got a great income out of it. On the flip side, however, urban consumers in Peru and Bolivia faced higher local prices. It took some monocropping and expansion to eventually catch up to the demand, and then, the price fell. Until then, around the year 2013, the price of quinoa in India ranged around Rs 1000. top view quinoa with a wooden spoon Humble bites to haute cuisine | Photo Credit: Magnific OystersAnother seafood on the list, oysters were a working class treat in the 18th and 19th centuries. Oysters were abundantly found in natural oyster beds in coastal areas, harbours, and estuaries, like in New York Harbor and near the Thames in London. They were hence sold at a cheap price by street vendors, often costing less than bread, beef, or poultry. They were consumed by daily wage labourers, dockworkers, and builders as a source of protein.Eventually, overfishing led to the depletion of natural oyster beds, and rapid industrialisation led to water pollution, making oysters vulnerable to contamination. This led to the prompting of stricter harvesting and safety regulations. Subsequently, the supply plummeted, unable to catch up to the rising demands, and the prices skyrocketed. Coffin Bay oysters, among the most expensive varieties found in Australia, reportedly cost up to $100 a piece (around Rs 9,400). Selective focus point on fresh oysters shell with lemon - Top of view Humble bites to haute cuisine | Photo Credit: Magnific RamenYou know the hearty bowl of broth, noodles, and other toppings from Japanese entertainment. This dish too was a hearty meal for the working class. It was fast, inexpensive, filling, and was the perfect thing to eat amid Japan’s rice shortage from the Second World War. It eventually evolved into an intricate culinary craft, and with a shift towards using premium ingredients, restaurant-style ramen became expensive.On the other hand, instant ramen became a mass hit in the rest of the world, when it was invented in 1958 to fill hungry stomachs fast. The most expensive ramen bowl right now is a wagyu ramen made with edible gold in Japan, costing between USD 650–700 (approx. between Rs 62,000 to Rs 66, 500). Ramen | Photo Credit: unsplash CaviarIt all started in medieval Russia, where fishermen pulled sturgeon fish from the Volga River. Families would eat the entire sturgeon, even the roe (fish eggs). They were also quite plentiful in North America. In fact, in 19th Century America, sturgeon roe was so abundant that it was served for free in some bars. American caviar was shipped to Europe.And like with much of the food we saw here, the rise in demand saw the obvious rise in harvesting. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the late 1800s saw the “Black Gold Rush”, where people flocked to the eastern part of the U.S. for the sturgeon roe. By the beginning of the 1900s, sturgeon populations had declined significantly and were still declining.Sturgeons grow slowly and do not reproduce easily. Hence, it was difficult to rebound even if overfishing was reduced. In fact, in 2001, fishing for sturgeons came to a complete halt for sometime in the Caspian states, thereby restricting the legal supply of caviar. Combine all that and what you have is another affordable treat turned into a luxury.All in all, the food didn’t really change, it was who wanted it, and how much could be amassed before there were problems. So the next time you see something expensive like this, know that some poor folk were eating this dirt cheap.