[div class="mxb"] [div class="sh"] 'Most expensive sandwich' on sale [/div] [/div] [!-- S BO --] [!-- S IIMA --] [table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="203"] [tbody][tr][td] [img alt="The £85 McDonald sandwich" src="vny!://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41542000/jpg/_41542850_sandwich203.jpg" border="0" height="152" hspace="0" vspace="0" width="203"] [div class="cap"]Will the bacon sarnie ever seem the same again?[/div] [/td][/tr] [/tbody][/table]
[!-- E IIMA --] [!-- S SF --] Hungry shoppers are being offered the chance to eat a gourmet sandwich, but the £85 price tag might be too much for some to swallow. The McDonald sandwich - named after its creator Scott McDonald, the chef at London department store Selfridges - is said to be the world's most expensive. [/p] Its cost is down to the Wagyu beef that makes up most of the filling, packed in a 24-hour fermented sour dough bread. [/p] [!-- E SF --]There have been at least five advance orders placed for the 21oz (595g) meal.
[/p] Wagyu cattle are one of the most expensive breeds in the world. [/p] The Japanese cows are raised on a special diet, including beer and grain. [/p] They are supposed to be regularly massaged with sake, the Japanese rice wine, to tenderize the flesh. [/p] Mr McDonald denied his creation was a "sandwich for snobs", saying its beauty was in its simplicity. [/p] "The flavours marry, it's not complicated - albeit a little bit rich," he told BBC London. [/p] Food and catering director at Selfridges on Oxford Street, Ewan Venters, who commissioned the sandwich, said they expected it to be a hit with local "foodies". [/p] "I think if you are a food lover, this represents great value for money," he said. [/p] "Some of the finest ingredients from around the world have been used to create this fabulous sandwich." [/p] The ingredients of the sandwich are: Wagyu beef, fresh lobe foie gras, black truffle mayonnaise, brie de meaux, rocket, red pepper and mustard confit and English plum tomatoes. [/p]