The white truffle sold at auction in New York (twitter / vinjohnragan)
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New York 06 December 2014 The largest white truffle in the world sold at auction in New York for 61,250 dollars, about 50 thousand euros. It is Italian and, according to the auction house Sotheby's, weighs one kilo and 89 grams and was bought by telephone from a Taiwanese gourmet.
The precious tuber was found in Italy last week by the Umbrian company Sabatino Tartufi of the Balestra family, one of the first suppliers of truffles in the world. The proceeds from the sale - says the Balestra family - will be donated to charities.
The owner of the truffle, Federico Balestra, told the "New Haven Register" that he hoped to raise $ 1 million - which he would donate to charity. In the end he had to settle 'only' from
61,250 dollars (almost 50,000 euros).
Beaten by the prestigious auction house Sotheby's, it ended up in the hands of a Taiwanese gourmet who made his offer by telephone.
The Balestra were unlucky: just 4 years ago another white truffle half the size was sold for a record sum of 417,200 dollars (339,000 euros) again at Sotheby's.
They will console themselves by entering the next edition of the Guinness book of records only for the gigantic size of the tuber.