You know what’s wild? Some of the priciest dishes in fancy restaurants today used to be trash food nobody wanted to touch. We’re talking about the kind of stuff people fed to pigs or literally used as fertilizer. It’s hard to imagine, honestly, when you look at those elegant raw oyster towers or butter-drizzled lobster tails at upscale restaurants. The transformation is real though, going from slop for prisoners and servants to something that costs more than your monthly phone bill.
This isn’t just about inflation or supply and demand. It’s about how humans attach value to food in the strangest ways. Sometimes a dish gets fancy just because the right person decided it was trendy. Other times it’s scarcity that drives the price skyward. Let’s be real here, most of these foods taste exactly the same as they did centuries ago, yet their reputation changed entirely. The journey from peasant plate to luxury dining is packed with weird twists, surprising facts, and sometimes a little bit of manipulation.
Lobster: From Cockroach of the Sea to Coastal Luxury
In the 17th and 18th Century American colonies, lobster was considered as disgusting as bugs or maggots and was once referred to as the “cockroach of the sea.” Picture walking along a Massachusetts beach and finding these creatures piled up nearly two feet high after a storm. After strong winds and bad weather it was not unusual to find the creatures stacked on the beaches a foot high and more. Lobster was known as the poor man’s meal because the overabundance made it easy for people with no money to get their protein, and these crustaceans were fed to prisoners, apprentices and slaves. Native Americans even used them as crop fertilizer rather than dinner.
Here’s the thing though: lobsters back then tasted terrible because nobody knew how to cook them properly. During the 18th century this crustacean was prepared just like any other meat, after it was already dead, and when a lobster dies its stomach releases enzymes into the rest of its body causing it to go bad quickly, which is most likely the reason people believed that lobster should only be served to poor people or slaves. The breakthrough came when chefs figured out the whole cook-it-alive trick. Train workers realized they could serve lobster to passengers because it was plentiful and cheap, and unaware of the negative stigma attached to these crustaceans, the passengers believed they were eating a decadent food and began requesting lobster even when they weren’t on the train.
The cost of shipping and overfishing led to a decrease in supply, and lobster’s scarcity and newfound demand drove up its price, transforming it into a luxury item. Surprisingly enough, to the average New Yorker, only a 1.5 pound Maine lobster will set you back nearly $56 on average. That’s quite a jump from being so worthless that servants literally protested eating it more than three times a week.
Oysters: The Working Class Staple That Vanished
New York City was once considered the oyster capital of the world, and New Yorkers were collectively eating a million oysters each day in the 1800s. Seriously, a million per day. In Victorian England, a dozen oysters cost 4 pence, half the price of a loaf of bread. Street vendors sold them like we sell hot dogs today. They were everywhere, cheap, filling, and perfect for workers who needed affordable protein.
From 1880 to 1910, oysters were harvested in massive quantities, with as much as 160 million pounds of oyster meat harvested per year. In 1909, oysters cost half as much as beef per pound. People added them to meat pies just to bulk up the dish. Rich and poor folks alike slurped them down for breakfast, lunch, and dinner without thinking twice about it.
Then everything changed. These filter feeders are particularly susceptible to polluted water, so big cities like New York tend to kill off oyster populations or at least make them too toxic for consumption, and almost 100 years ago, New York City’s oyster beds officially closed down. A combination of overharvesting and disease has depleted once-plentiful Atlantic oyster beds, decreasing the supply. Now they’re back on fancy menus with lemon wedges and mignonette sauce, priced like they’re made of gold.
Caviar: Russian Peasant Staple Turned Ultimate Status Symbol
I think it’s fascinating that caviar spent centuries as cheap peasant food. For over a dozen centuries, many considered caviar peasant food and it was widely available, particularly prominent in Russia where Slavic fishermen would pull sturgeon from the Volga River, and families would use the entirety of the sturgeon, establishing roe as a staple of the poor man’s diet across Russia. Some 100 years ago, bars used to serve it for free with sandwiches. The salty stuff made customers thirsty, which meant they bought more drinks. Smart business, terrible prediction of future value.
In the 12th century, sturgeon, the fish that produce these now sought after eggs, were abundant and fished like any other, and similar to lobster, as bottom-feeders, sturgeon were not highly-prized. Then things got complicated. In the 16th century, Tsar Ivan the Terrible took a liking to the briny roe, and the Tsar’s taste for caviar spawned a larger taste for the food across Russia. When royalty loves something, suddenly everyone wants it.
It only became a rare, expensive delicacy after overfishing in the Caspian Sea starting around the 12th century nearly wiped out the sturgeon population. Eventually, the Caspian Sea, which was Russia’s primary reservoir for sturgeon, began to run out of fish, and international competition grew fierce, resulting in the once-common dish becoming a delicacy that only the rich could afford. These days you’re looking at several hundred dollars for just an ounce of the good stuff.
Foie Gras: From Egyptian Scraps to French Royalty
The technique of gavage dates as far back as 2500 BC, when the ancient Egyptians began confining anatid birds to be forcedly fed to be fattened as a food source. Back then birds’ intestines were frowned upon, so the fatty liver was given to the local Jews, who didn’t seem to mind. It was literally the throwaway part that more privileged people refused to eat. In medieval times, it served as a source of inexpensive kosher fat and was a hallmark of Jewish peasant cuisine.
The Romans caught on and turned it fancy, naturally. The ancient Romans discovered the potential and turned foie gras into a posh dish, but during the Dark Ages and Medieval times it became the nourishment of the needy again, with the tradition barely held alive by a few Jewish folks in the slums of Central Europe, until the Renaissance royals in France fell in love with it.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, fattened palmipeds were part of the staple peasant diet, as cooking and preserving livers and meat in fat meant reserves could be established, a major benefit given that the modern day freezer was still some way off. Foie gras became a significant part of French culinary tradition during the 17th and 18th centuries under the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI, and it was served at royal courts as a symbol of luxury and refinement. Now a small portion can easily cost you over £15 for just 100 grams at a gourmet store.
Sushi: Preservation Technique Turned High-End Art Form
Initially, sushi was something poor fishermen ate, made by covering fish in fermented rice, and this method was more about preserving the fish than creating a culinary masterpiece. Sushi was invented as a way to preserve fish, and by wrapping it in fermented rice you could make it last a lot longer, with the rice thrown away. Yeah, they literally tossed the rice part and only ate the fish. Wild, right?
Things began to change around the 17th century when Japanese chefs started using vinegar or sake instead of fermented rice and began slicing the fish into smaller, more appealing pieces, making sushi far more palatable, and soon it was seen as an art form. In the 1600s chefs starting adding vinegar to their rice to make it edible, and once it took on its present look, bite-sized and portable, it became the equivalent of Japanese fast food sold from street stalls, with fish and rice plentiful so there was no reason for sushi to be expensive.
The transformation happened after World War II when American GIs developed a taste for it. Demand skyrocketed globally, and what was once street cart food became reservation-only omakase experiences. Today some high-end sushi restaurants in major cities charge upwards of $500 per person. That’s one expensive rice bowl.
Brisket: Roadside BBQ to Trendy Restaurant Centerpiece
Texas-style smoked brisket was once an inexpensive, working people’s meal one could get even on the roadside, and its popularity and prices increased as it made its way into fast-food restaurants. Brisket used to be what butchers practically gave away because it was tough, required forever to cook properly, and most people didn’t know what to do with it. Blue-collar workers and poor families bought it because they couldn’t afford better cuts.
The smoking technique from Texas BBQ culture slowly spread, and chefs started realizing this tough cut could be transformed into something incredibly tender and flavorful with the right treatment. Food trucks picked it up. Then trendy restaurants discovered it. Suddenly brisket sandwiches appeared on hipster menus with artisanal everything, and prices quadrupled. Now you’ll find $25 brisket platters at restaurants where the meat used to cost $3 per pound at the butcher shop.
The demand pushed prices so high that even at grocery stores, brisket costs nearly as much as prime rib in some areas. It’s become the darling of food competitions, cooking shows, and Instagram feeds. All that attention meant the cheap working man’s cut became another casualty of culinary gentrification.
Skirt Steak and Fajitas: The Tex-Mex Price Explosion
Skirt steak was once one of the most affordable cuts of beef, often overlooked due to its toughness and lack of recipe flexibility, and in the 1970s, it was simply a budget-friendly option for those who wanted a decent meal without spending much. Butchers considered it a throwaway cut. Mexican and Tex-Mex cooks knew its value though, using it for fajitas and carne asada where the thin cut and marinade worked perfectly.
Then the 1980s fajita craze hit America like a freight train. Restaurants everywhere started serving sizzling platters of fajitas, and the secret was out. Chefs got creative, figuring out that proper marinating and quick high-heat cooking made skirt steak absolutely delicious. Demand exploded almost overnight.
The price followed the hype. What used to be dirt cheap suddenly became one of the pricier cuts at the meat counter. Home cooks who’d been buying it for years watched in horror as their affordable dinner option tripled in cost. These days skirt steak often costs more than some premium cuts, all because Tex-Mex food became trendy and everyone wanted in on the action.
Monkfish: Too Ugly to Sell, Now Celebrity Chef Favorite
Monkfish, now a favorite among foodies and celebrities, was once known as “poor man’s lobster,” and its unappealing appearance made it difficult to sell, with fishmongers barely able to give it away, and France once banned its sale because it was considered too ugly. Honestly, I can see why. This fish looks like something from a nightmare with its massive mouth and weird bumpy skin. Fishermen used to throw it back or use it for bait.
The tide turned on what has been called “trash fish” thanks to creative chefs who recognized the delicious flavor and versatile nature of monkfish, and as its culinary potential was realized, monkfish started appearing on upscale restaurant menus around the world. The meat has a firm, meaty texture similar to lobster, which is probably where that “poor man’s lobster” nickname came from. Once high-end chefs started featuring it, diners stopped caring what it looked like.
Now monkfish commands premium prices at fish markets and appears on fancy restaurant menus with fancy preparations. The fish that was literally too ugly to sell legally in France became a sought-after delicacy practically overnight once the right people decided it was worth cooking.
Escargot: Garden Pests Turned French Delicacy
Snails are ugly little critters that don’t have much in the way of flavor, and were considered peasant food dating back to the days of the ancient Greeks. People ate them because they were free, easy to collect, and added some protein to an otherwise bland diet. Nobody with money would touch them. They were literally garden pests.
Once French chefs began serving them in fancy little dishes topped with an aromatic compound butter, snails stopped being snails and started being escargots, the quintessential snooty and upscale French delicacy. It was the French aristocracy that started serving them with aromatic butter and made it a delicacy. The transformation is basically all about presentation and that glorious garlic-herb butter sauce. Same slimy creature, completely different reputation.
Today ordering escargot signals sophistication at French restaurants. They arrive in those special dimpled plates, drowning in butter, usually costing $15 or more for just six snails. The markup is insane when you consider these things literally crawl around gardens eating your vegetables for free.
Salmon: Servant Contract Clauses to Luxury Seafood
Up until the 1950s in the UK and Ireland, salmon was so cheap that servants had it written into their contracts that they would eat salmon only once a week. Think about that for a second. Workers literally negotiated protection against being fed too much salmon. It was that abundant and that boring to eat constantly. Rivers and streams were absolutely packed with salmon during spawning season.
The story about prisoners and servants refusing to eat lobster more than a few times weekly? That same tale got told about salmon decades earlier. The problem is that no one ever told this story about lobster until sometime in the 1900s, and before then, it was told about salmon. Either way, the point stands: salmon was poverty food that wealthier people avoided.
Overfishing changed everything. As wild salmon populations crashed, the price climbed steadily. Farm-raised salmon helped with supply issues somewhat, though wild-caught still commands premium prices. Now salmon is marketed as a healthy, omega-3-rich superfood, appearing on upscale restaurant menus everywhere. The servant’s curse became the wellness crowd’s darling.
