It’s white truffle charity auction time. Someone – obviously rather wealthy – spent E95,000 on a 1.2kg white truffle. The BBC report is terse and to the point, but the Independent‘s coverage is rather good:

“The appeal of the tartufo bianchi was dramatically underlined in London yesterday when a bidder from Hong Kong paid a staggering E95,000 (£63,000) for a 1.2 kilo Alba at a three-country charity auction organised by Christies, making it the world’s most expensive truffle and dwarfing the £28,000 paid for an 850g truffle at a similar event last year.”

The writer, Terry Kirby, also has some nice colour:

“At restaurants, none of this comes cheap, of course, which can provide a shock for unsuspecting diners wishing to sample the rare treat. Three years ago, one customer at Locanda Locatelli, a central London restaurant owned by celebrity chef Giorgio Locatelli, refused to pay £60 for two plates of pasta with white truffles and was locked in the toilet until he changed his mind.”

I will be carrying a fully charged credit card on my European tour, and will not be going to Locatelli.