Saffron

• Saffron, produced from the stigma of the crocus flower, is easily the world's most expensive spice, costing $50 an ounce or more. Each crocus has three stigma, which are the tiny sticky bulbs in the center of the flower on which pollen lands. It takes about 75,000 blooms to make a pound of saffron; each flower must be hand-picked, and the stigma are stripped out by hand. One pound of saffron costs, on average, $1,000. In ancient times, saffron was used as medicine and for dye as well as in food. Spain is the world's top producer of saffron; other countries that produce the spice include Iran, Turkey, India and Morocco. Often used in Spanish and Asian rice and meat dishes, saffron has an intense flavor and adds a bright yellow color to a dish.

Cardamom

• Cardamom spice is made from the seeds of the cardamom plant, a type of ginger native to India, Sri Lanka and parts of Southeast Asia. It has been used medicinally and as a flavoring for food for at least two millennia: the Indian medical text Charaka Samhita, written between 200 B.C. and A.D. 200, mentions cardamom. Like saffron, cardamom is expensive because it is labor-intensive to produce. The seed pods are hand-picked before they are fully ripe to ensure the freshness of the seeds. There are about 12 seeds per seed pod; 10 pods yield about 1 teaspoon of ground cardamom. India and Guatemala are the main producers of cardamom. It is a primary ingredient in curry, a popular additive to coffee in Arab countries and is widely used in Scandinavia to flavor baked goods. Whole cardamom pods sell for around $30 per pound; ground cardamom can be found for $6-$10 per ounce.

Vanilla

• Pure vanilla rounds out the top three most expensive spices in the world. Artificial vanilla flavor is common, but true vanilla comes from the seed pod, or bean, of a type of orchid known as the vanilla plant. The plants are hand-pollinated and the pods take nine months to ripen, making vanilla expensive to produce. First cultivated by Totonaco Indians in Mexico over 500 years ago, today you can find vanilla in everything from ice cream to perfume. The Encyclopedia of Spices notes that Mexico and Madagascar produce the highest quality vanilla beans, and that prices range from $50 to $200 per pound. Pure vanilla extract sells for around $2 per ounce.