Getting a hard time about your spendy project? Mention the $330,000 fungus

[bull]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071201/ap_on_re_eu/italy_giant_truffle

Giant truffle auctioned for $330,000

FLORENCE, Italy - A Macau casino mogul bid a record $330,00 at auction Saturday to win a giant white truffle dug up in Tuscany, organizers said.

Billionaire Stanley Ho made the winning bid for the 3.3 pound truffle during an auction staged simultaneously in Florence, London and at Ho's Grand Lisboa hotel in Macau, said auction organizer Giselle Oberti.

The price bested the previous record for a truffle of $212,000, she said.

The unusually heavy truffle was dug up last week by truffle hunter Cristiano Savini, his father Luciano and dog Rocco in Palaia, a town about 25 miles from Pisa. The Savinis said Rocco started sniffing "like crazy" when he zeroed in on the fungus.

Guinness World Records lists a 2.86 pound white truffle found in Croatia in 1999 as the biggest.

Truffles usually weigh from 1 to 2.8 ounces apiece. Slivers of white truffles, with their strong aroma, are prized in Italy to flavor pasta sauces and rice dishes.

Proceeds from the auction were to go to an Italian organization that helps sufferers of genetic diseases, a group that helps street children in London and Catholic charities in Macau.

Calls to Ho weren't immediately returned late Saturday.

[TK73]

Heard that on the news yesterday.  Had to look up what a "truffle" is...      At least the money is going to charity.


That Ho guy is gonna have to change his name to "Ha" or "He" so people won't get offended...

[dukeboy_318]

wow and itll rot away or be eaten, thats kinda much dont youthink, but i guess if youve got money spend it on whatever makes you happy

[bull]

Heard that on the news yesterday.  Had to look up what a "truffle" is...      At least the money is going to charity.


That Ho guy is gonna have to change his name to "Ha" or "He" so people won't get offended...

Me too. My best guess after reading about it is that it's basically a wild potato-like fungus used in food preperation by the French and Italians. They use pigs and dogs to find them, usually around the base of certain hardwood trees in hot, dry climates.

[69_500]

Well to put it nicely though for Ho to spend $330,000 is like one of us from this board spending $0.50 one a piece of gum from a gumball machine.