$52,000 truffle rots from bad storage
Bought at auction last month, the world's most expensive fungus is now inedible.
December 20, 2004: 5:28 PM EST
ROME (Reuters) - The world's most expensive truffle returned to Italy to be buried on Saturday.
The warty white fungus, once an aphrodisiac for the ancient Romans and now one of the most costly foods in the world, was bought by a London restaurant at auction last month.
Despite having paid $52,000 for the precious tuber, the restaurant left the fungus in a safe for too long and it rotted.
When experts in Florence heard, they asked to have the 852 gram (1.9 lb) truffle returned for burial in the hope that it would sprout an even bigger one next year, local agency ANSA reported.
And the fungus fanciers had found a suitably historic resting place.
After a requiem poem and solemn ceremony, the truffle was due to be buried under a tree believed to have been planted by Italy's famous 15th century explorer Amerigo Vespucci.
In exchange for its loss, the swanky London restaurant Zafferano would receive a selection of smaller white truffles of the equivalent weight, ANSA said.
Chef2Chef News Desk