Can you imagine paing $52,000 for something that "rots" in your safe?

Record-Beating Truffle Goes Home for Burial

Sat Dec 18, 1:31 PM ET Oddly Enough - Reuters



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 a $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 a 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 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.

hehehe, the requiem poem and solemn ceremony for a truffle... that's hilarious!

I love the pics you posted!
That's one of my favorite movies to watch.

Besides Attack of the Killer Tomatos, mine too.