Obama to get reelection gift weighing more than a kilo

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.