Google – AFP, 10 November 2012
Acqualagna's
mayor Andrea Pierotti (R) holding in his hands a 1,012 kgs
white truffle
(AFP/ACQUALAGNA PRESS OFFICE)
|
ROME — A
small Italian village renowned for its white truffles announced Saturday it
would give US President Barack Obama a record specimen weighing in at more than
a kilo as a reelection present.
"A
1.012-kg truffle from Acqualagna will be gifted to the President of the United
States Barack Obama to celebrate his reelection," the local authorities
said in a statement.
The
truffle, a rare subterranean mushroom prized in haute cuisine, is to be
delivered to the United States on November 18 and Acqualagna officials said
they hoped Obama would show up in person to pick up his gift.
"The
first American president to receive an Acqualagna truffle was Harry Truman in
1956. The latest dignitary to have received it was Prince Philip, Duke of
Edinburgh," the town's mayor, Andrea Pierotti, said.
The price
per kilo of white truffles has recently shot up to around 3,000 euros (3,800 dollars).
In 2010, a
South Korean wine critic bought a 900-gramme truffle for 105,000 euros at a
charity event.
Macau
billionaire and casino baron Stanley Ho in 2010 paid more than $300,000 for two
pieces of the precious tuber at another charity auction.
Local
legend has it that the largest-ever find came in 1668 when a man by the name of
Filippo Cortesi unearthed a pair of truffles weighing 13 and 18 kilos
respectively.
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