Obama’s re-election gift: A white truffle

A small Italian village announced that it would gift Barack Obama a record 1-kg rare mushroom for his victory in the US elections

Obama's re-election gift: A white truffle

Forget phones, money and other presents. A small Italian village renowned for its white truffles announced it would give US President Barack Obama a rather unusual gift. Local authorities announced that it would give a record specimen weighing in at more than a kilo as a re-election present.

“A 1.012-kg truffle from Acqualagna will be gifted to the President of the United States Barack Obama to celebrate his re-election,” 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.

Mouth-watering: Acqualagna’s Mayor Andrea Pierotti (right) holding in his hands a 1.012 kg white truffle that would be gifted to US President Barack Obama. Pic/AFP

“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 (Rs 2.10 lakh). In 2010, a South Korean wine critic bought a 900-gramme truffle for 105,000 euros (Rs 73 lakh) at a charity event. Macau billionaire and casino baron Stanley Ho in 2010 paid more than $300,000 (Rs 1.64 crore) 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.

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