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7 min
15/01/2026
Just as Bruno Mars went from singing about wanting to be a billionaire to basking in ‘24K Magic’, the foods below experienced the same rags-to-riches transformation. Born out of necessity, making use of what was readily available without burning a hole in the pocket, these dishes were staples for working-class families who valued sustenance over status. Over time, changing tastes, scarcity, and clever rebranding elevated them. Now, one can’t even imagine them to be anything but a luxury.
For anything to become a luxury item, the supply has to be low, and the demand through the roof and all of these food items below fit this description too well. Most of them have an interesting history, with some going back to the age of dinosaurs and some actually being the poor man’s food, which was given a marketing tagline and promoted as a delicacy. Here’s how the food for the masses becomes a treat for the elite.
Caviar is fish eggs, but not all fish eggs are caviar. This delicacy comes from the sturgeon fish, whose salt-cured and unfertilised eggs are relished and cherished. They have been consumed as far back as the 1200s – the era of the Crusades, with Russia and Iran harvesting and consuming a mammoth amount. It reached Europe in the 1500s and was dubbed ‘royal fish’, thanks to its low supply. But in America, where the sturgeon fish was in plenty of supply, caviar became a common man’s food, so much so that bar patrons were given caviar for free with their drinks.
This seafood delight has been around since the time of the dinosaurs, dating back to the Cambrian period. With fire and tools at their disposal, early humans, most likely from the Mesolithic period, were seen cooking oysters till they opened and were consumed. Slowly, the Greeks and Romans began cultivating and consuming, reserving them for the elite. It became affordable thanks to continuous farming (Europe and the U.S) for the longest time (18th and 19th centuries), but a crash in natural supply and increasing demand made it a luxurious item again.
Perhaps the beacon of gourmet food, lobster was once called the ‘cockroach of the sea’ and used to be a meal reserved for the poor, slaves and criminals as they would wash up on the New England coast. In those early days, even livestock were fed the crustacean, and seeing lobster shells around a house was seen as a sign of poverty. What flipped everything was the invention of canning, refrigerated rail transport and the spread of inland dining in the 19th century. This allowed chefs and entrepreneurs to market lobster far from the coast as a novel, coveted dish, and demand for the ‘sea cockroach’ shot through the roof.
Perhaps best known today as a rich, slow-cooked delicacy relished across South Asia, nihari began its life as a hearty morning stew for labourers and working classes, cooked overnight to provide warmth and energy after dawn prayers in late-18th-century Old Delhi or Lucknow. Over time, the recipe was refined by royal chefs and khansamas of the Awadh and Mughal kitchens, transforming the robust, thick broth into a more aromatic, nuanced version fit for aristocrats. As nihari spread beyond its origins, carried by cooks and evolving with local tastes, it shed its purely utilitarian roots and eventually moved into elite dining circles and upscale restaurants.
Before being elevated to fine dining status, that rakes in the money like a gambler’s loss at a casino, where was sushi and what was it doing? Sushi began as an ingenious solution to a very simple problem – preserving fish without refrigeration. Early forms involved packing fish in fermented rice so it wouldn’t spoil, and the rice was often discarded while the fish was eaten. Over centuries, this practice evolved in Japan, and by the Edo period (17th-19th century), street vendors in Edo (now Tokyo) were selling Edomae‑style sushi (fresh fish on vinegared rice) as quick, affordable, working‑class street food, much like modern fast food.
Once dismissed as ‘throwaway meat’, eating oxtail began with the enslaved people brought to Jamaica from Africa, around the early 16th century. Very limited cattle could thrive there, like goats and oxen, and the wealthy folks dined on the expensive cuts, leaving the poorer people with the scraps of tail, snout and foot. So, oxtail was being prepared with a combination of African cooking styles with spices like ginger, allspice, and thyme. While oxtail might pose some challenges, it’s excellent for slow cooking, currues and stews. Over time, this meat cut, or rather scrap, was picked up by chefs and now commands premium prices in restaurants and butchers’ shops alike.
Once growing beneath oak, beech and hazelnut tree roots in Europe’s forests, truffles were known to ancient civilisations like the Sumerians and Egyptians. They saw them as curious earth‑gifts. Later, the Greeks and Romans also prized them for their flavour and medicinal purposes. It wasn’t until Renaissance Europe that chefs and nobility recognised their unique aroma and flavour, gradually elevating truffles from obscurity into elite status. By the 18th and 19th centuries, truffles were firmly entrenched in Parisian high cuisine, where they were seen as symbols of wealth and sophistication. Today, these elusive fungi command astronomical prices and are coveted by gourmands.
For centuries, quinoa was a staple crop for Andean farmers in South America as a nutritious, affordable grain cultivated in the high elevations of Peru and Bolivia and dismissed by European colonisers in favour of imported grains. Its profile began changing in the late 20th and early 21st centuries as nutritionists and ‘superfood’ enthusiasts spotlighted its high protein and gluten‑free qualities. That modern health‑food craze has driven global demand and prices, turning this once modest grain into a trendy, high‑cost ingredient featured in upscale and health‑oriented menus worldwide.
Pizza used to be a street food for the poor. In 18th‑century Naples, rapid urban growth left many workers and labourers (lazzaroni) struggling to make ends meet, and they turned to inexpensive flatbreads topped with simple ingredients like garlic, lard, salt or anchovies, sold by hawkers in the streets. These early pizzas were so firmly associated with poverty by snobbish affluent visitors and locals. The turning point came in 1889, when a local pizzaiolo (a skilled pizza maker) prepared a tomato, mozzarella and basil pie for Queen Margherita of Savoy, who loved it so much that pizza started being enjoyed by royalty and eventually spread beyond Naples.
It turns out these luxury foods really rose to the occasion. What started as humble, wallet-friendly fare has been cooked up into gourmet treasures, proving that even the simplest ingredients can make cents and sense when culture, scarcity, and creativity get involved. From sushi sliding out of Edo street stalls to truffles digging their way into elite kitchens, these dishes have stewed, baked, and fermented their way into fame.
