Keep your hands steady: a scoop of this exquisite delight is probably going to cost more than all the ice cream you will have throughout multiple summers.
The frozen dessert, called byakuya – “white night” in Japanese – is currently fetching 880,000 yen ($6,380) for a serving, officially making it the most expensive ice cream in the world, according to Guinness World Records.
Japanese ice cream brand Cellato calls white night a gelato on its website, and the name is a hint to its Italian origins.
Sourced exclusively from Alba – home to what many consider the best white truffles in Italy – that ingredient alone could rake in as much as two million yen ($14,500) per kilogram, said an article published on the Guinness World Records website last week.
The ice cream is topped off by an edible gold leaf, two types of cheese and “Sakekasu,” a paste-like ingredient derived from the process of sake-making.
“It took us over 1.5 years to develop, with a lot of trials and errors to get the taste right,” a representative from the company told Guinness World Records earlier.
The company said its mission isn’t just about making mouthwateringly expensive desserts but to create a culinary adventure that merges European ingredients and traditional Japanese foods.
For that, it brought in Tadayoshi Yamada, the head chef at RiVi, an Osaka-based restaurant known for its French-Japanese fusion cuisine, to steer the project, according to Guinness World Records.
The desert is available for sale in Japan and is shipped directly to consumers, according to Cellato’s website.
Sampling the treat comes with almost equal precision, as Cellato sets out meticulous steps to govern the way it should be consumed once it arrives.
Patrons are instructed to pour in the white truffle at the right texture just as the ice cream softens up, before mixing it with a handcrafted metal spoon given to them.
They are advised to let the ice cream defrost at room temperature or microwave it at 500 watts for 10 to 20 seconds, if the texture is too hard.
While the Guinness World Records team has not had a chance to sample the dessert, Cellato earlier offered a tasting session for its staff, who described the treat to the record-keeping body as “rich in taste and texture.”
In addition, they recommended pairing the tasting with sake or a French white wine.
Cellato, which also has a black truffle-based offering on its menu, said it plans to diversify its eye-wateringly expensive product line to include Champagne and caviar in the future.