Los Angeles - An American restaurant owner spent $35 000 (about R350 000)for a rare, one-kilogram white truffle from Italy, setting a new record for the price of a single truffle.
Joe Pytka, 64, bought the exotic mushroom on Sunday at the annual Asta Mondial del Tartufo Bianco d'Alba charity truffle auction, held simultaneously in Los Angeles, New York and Alba, Italy, where the giant mushroom was grown.
Pytka said he will use the giant truffle in a variety of dishes made by chef Alain Giraud at his West Hollywood French restaurant, Bastide. It was expected to arrive from Italy on Tuesday.
Pytka broke the record of $19 000 set in 2001 by Los Angeles-based chef Wolfgang Puck of Spago restaurant, for an 819g truffle.
In total, 30 truffles - many weighing just a few grams - were auctioned off for $126 000.
The proceeds will benefit the Jonsson Cancer Centre Foundation at the University of California, Los Angeles, as well as the families of 26 Italian schoolchildren killed in a recent earthquake.
The one-kilogram mushroom caused a spirited bidding war between Pytka, Tony May, the owner of San Domenico restaurant in New York, and a dog named Gunther IV, heir to a large German fortune, whose bids were made by his owner, Maurizio Dial.
Pytka bid at Valentino restaurant in Santa Monica, where 75 other truffle aficionados gathered, while May bid from his New York restaurant, where a boisterous crowd of 120 enthusiasts joined the action.
Gunther was at the castle of Grinzane Cavour, just outside Alba, which is home to the enormous white truffle. About 350 people were gathered at the castle to participate in the bidding.
The appearance of Pytka's truffle on the television screen brought loud gasps of appreciation from the crowd at Valentino.
Daniele Bera of Funghi & Tartufi, a truffle store in Alba, said Pytka's truffle was the biggest he had seen in his 17 years in the business. - Sapa-AP