Hong Kong billionaire Sir Gordon Wu has been revealed as the buyer of a huge US$160,787 (NT$5.2 million) white truffle believed to be the most valuable ever sold, sale sponsors said on Nov .15.
Wu, who heads the Hopewell Holdings property empire, and his wife Ivy bid anonymously for the giant 1.5kg fungus, sold at an annual truffle auction in Grizane, northern Italy.
It was flown to the southern Chinese city on Nov. 14 and will be prepared for a sumptuous banquet on Nov. 16 at Hong Kong's Ritz-Carlton Hotel, which sponsored the Hong Kong bid.
PHOTO: AP
Money raised at the auction will be donated to a Hong Kong charity for women facing pregnancy crises.
"It will be a great honor to prepare such a truffle," said Umberto Bombana, chef de cuisine at the hotel's Toscana restaurant, where the delicacy will be sliced and then included in a four-course meal for Wu and some 40 guests.
The truffle, looking like three potatoes stacked on top of each other, was put on show for the first time the afternoon of Nov 14.
It was the second year in a row that a buyer from Hong Kong had snapped up the top item at the annual Worldwide Alba White Truffle Auction held in northern Italy.
Last year a consortium of investors paid US$122,000 (NT$4 million) for a 1.2 kilogram fungus. The Guinness Book of Records later confirmed it as the most valuable truffle bought at auction.
"Getting to prepare the most valuable truffle two years in a row is like winning the World Cup," enthused Italian Bombana, who is aknowledged as a white truffle expert. (AFP)
世界白松露年度拍賣銷售贊助商本月十五日表示，香港億萬富翁胡應湘爵士就是買下價值十六萬零七百八十七美元（新台幣五百二十萬元）白松露的匿名投標人。
這顆一點五公斤的巨大松露在義大利北部格利桑市的年度松露拍賣會上成交，合和實業有限公司的主席胡應湘與胡郭秀萍賢伉儷匿名投標。
白松露本月十四日空運至香港，麗嘉酒店將在十六日的豪華盛宴上讓賓客一飽口福。麗嘉酒店是香港競標的贊助商。
拍賣會上籌募的款項將捐給香港慈善機構，關心面臨懷孕危機的婦女。
麗嘉酒店托斯卡那餐廳的主廚恩伯圖．邦巴那表示︰「能烹調這種松露是一種榮譽。」松露切片後將烹調成四道菜，宴請胡應湘爵士以及四十多位嘉賓。
看起來像三顆馬鈴薯疊在一起的松露，十四日下午首度公開亮相。
在義大利北部舉行的世界白松露年度拍賣會上，香港買家連續兩年奪得頂級競標商品。
去年一群投資者合資十二萬兩千美元（新台幣四百萬元），買下重達一點二公斤的松露。金氏世界紀錄稍後證實這是拍賣會上售出價碼最高的松露。
被公認是白松露專家的義大利籍邦巴那興致勃勃表示︰「能連續兩年烹調最價值連城的白松露，就像是贏得世界盃一樣。」（法新社╱翻譯︰鄭湘儀）
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