A rare 850g white truffle was auctioned on Sunday for 85,000 euros (US$96,000) in the Italian region of Alba, with the anonymous Hong Kong buyer paying nearly 30 times this year’s market price for smaller nuggets.
The annual auction in the region near Turin saw the unusually large white truffle sold at a price that would value it at 100 euros per gram.
“The price of this exceptional truffle does not correspond to the market price, which this year is around 350 euros for 100 grams,” the event’s spokeswoman told reporters. “What explains this high bid is the fact that the sale is for charity and also the rarity of a 850g truffle, because the bigger the truffle the more valuable it is.”
Photo: AFP
The white truffles of the Alba region are highly sought after and are unearthed between Sept. 21 and Jan. 31.
This year’s harvest was excellent, both in terms of quantity and quality, after a difficult season last year.
The bumper harvest has brought the regular market price down — to the applause of restaurateurs and gourmets.
“Last year, because of the drought that drove a weak harvest, we got to 600 to 700 euros for 100g. This year we went to 250 euros and now it is around 350 euros,” for nuggets weighing an average of 20g, said Antonio Degiacomi, head of Italy’s National Center for Truffle Studies.
Degiacomi said rain and storms in July and August had provided ample water, which is perfect for the truffles.
“It is characterized by an intense perfume, which conjures romantic encounters, the forests, nature. It is very evocative,” Degiacomi said.
Alba has hosted truffle auctions for 88 years as part of its annual truffle fair, which goes on for about two months. This year’s event was held in conjunction with Hong Kong.
An endangered baby pygmy hippopotamus that shot to social media stardom in Thailand has become a lucrative source of income for her home zoo, quadrupling its ticket sales, the institution said Thursday. Moo Deng, whose name in Thai means “bouncy pork,” has drawn tens of thousands of visitors to Khao Kheow Open Zoo this month. The two-month-old pygmy hippo went viral on TikTok and Instagram for her cheeky antics, inspiring merchandise, memes and even craft tutorials on how to make crocheted or cake-based Moo Dengs at home. A zoo spokesperson said that ticket sales from the start of September to Wednesday reached almost
‘BARBAROUS ACTS’: The captain of the fishing vessel said that people in checkered clothes beat them with iron bars and that he fell unconscious for about an hour Ten Vietnamese fishers were violently robbed in the South China Sea, state media reported yesterday, with an official saying the attackers came from Chinese-flagged vessels. The men were reportedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), which Taiwan claims, as do Vietnam, China, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines. Vietnamese media did not identify the nationalities of the attackers, but Phung Ba Vuong, an official in central Quang Ngai province, told reporters: “They were Chinese, [the boats had] Chinese flags.” Four of the 10-man Vietnamese crew were rushed
CHINESE ICBM: The missile landed near the EEZ of French Polynesia, much to the surprise and concern of the president, who sent a letter of protest to Beijing Fijian President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere called for “respect for our region” and a stop to missile tests in the Pacific Ocean, after China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). In a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, Katonivere recalled the Pacific Ocean’s history as a nuclear weapons testing ground, and noted Wednesday’s rare launch by China of an ICBM. “There was a unilateral test firing of a ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean. We urge respect for our region and call for cessation of such action,” he said. The ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, was launched by the
As violence between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, Iran is walking a tightrope by supporting Hezbollah without being dragged into a full-blown conflict and playing into its enemy’s hands. With a focus on easing its isolation and reviving its battered economy, Iran is aware that war could complicate efforts to secure relief from crippling sanctions. Cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah, sparked by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 last year, has intensified, especially after last week’s sabotage on Hezbollah’s communications that killed 39 people. Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon followed, killing hundreds. Hezbollah retaliated with rocket barrages. Despite the surge in
RSS