Louis XIII and PX in world’s most expensive mince pie

A British chef created the world’s most expensive mince pie involving PX Sherry, Louis XIII Cognac, white truffle and foie gras.

Costing £3,500 a pie, the traditional Christmas snack is decorated in gold leaf and served with a scoop of brandy cream.

The double measure of Louis XIII (which costs £800 by itself) was served alongside the mince pie rather than being used in its creation.

The pie was created by Ben Tish, executive chef of the Salt Yard Group, for the Taste of Christmas festival, which took place last weekend.

The dish was one of several that were created by some of the country’s top chefs and were sold off in a charity raffle

Although traditional in ethos and appearance, the creation included many unusual ingredients, with goji berries (or wolfberries) added to the Rémy Martin and PX Sherry-infused dried fruit mix and beef suet wholly replaced by foie gras for greater richness.

To balance out the alcohol, white truffle and white truffle essence were added too.

Tish said: “Mince pies are ubiquitous at Christmas but there’s generally a very low standard of quality.

“I have used truffle in sweet things before to great effect. I thought about using foie gras instead of beef fat as it is richer and more luxurious.

“The gold leaf and the icing sugar give it a great Christmassy look.”

Anyone hoping to make it a regular feature of their Christmas feasting would be set back around £21,000 for a tray of six.

The decadent mince pie is not the only hyper-expensive and normally mundane foodstuff to have undergone a complete transformation involving Louis XIII.

Earlier this year, db reported on a “luxury hot dog” that had gone on sale in Canada at CAD$100 a pop.