Hong Kong businessman Stanley Ho beats off global competition to win charity auction for 'white gold'

MOST people are content with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese on their pasta, but one Hong Kong businessman has paid £130,000 to have light shavings of the world's most expensive fungi instead.

Stanley Ho, who last year spent £215,000 on the world's dearest white truffle, has once again picked up a rare giant fungus at a charity auction.

The 1.08kg white truffle was 500g lighter than last year's record-breaking specimen, but it is still very rare. Ho outbid a conglomerate of Dubai sheikhs, including Manchester City's new owner, Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, for the prize.

Scottish chef Gordon Ramsay was expected to take part in the auction, which was a televised link-up between his London restaurant Murano, the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi, the Exedra Hotel in Rome and the Gran Lisboa Hotel in Macau. But, in the event, Ramsay failed to turn up.

Organiser Giselle Oberti, in Rome, said: "Gordon was at the launch last month and we had expected him to be at the auction, but he wasn't there. In the end the auction went down really well."

The giant truffle on sale at Saturday's auction was dug up in the southern Italian region of Molise and was flown to Macau for the auction first class, accompanied by an Italian chef.

Scottish truffle importer Gianpaolo La Greca said that white truffles, which are more rare than black ones, are particularly difficult to find and impossible to cultivate.

This truffle, Mr La Greca suggested, would probably have been of a perfect shape and texture to pick up such a large price, even though these qualities make no difference to the taste.

"There's a premium that you pay for a truffle like this. It is very much an item that is revered – more so even than caviar – and it's like buying a diamond.

"It is in the area of elite products, where very rich people want the best and price is secondary. It's a sort of one-upmanship with their friends, to say they own the best and biggest truffle."

In total the 16 lots of truffles that were up for auction raised about £200,000 for various charities.

Yesterday, Mr Ho's plans for the truffle were unknown, but it is believed he will enjoy it as he did last year – lightly shaved over a plate of pasta.

However, as it was dug up more than ten days ago, he had better get in quick as truffles have only a limited life – four years ago at a similar event the top fungus was won by a London restaurant, but the chef forgot about it and left it to rot.

FACT BOX

• TRUFFLES have been eaten for more than 2,000 years and were first written about in the 4th century BC by the Romans.

• They have a short growing season, in the three months around Christmas.

• White truffles are found in the north of Italy while black specimens are more common in the centre and south of the country. They are found in the roots of trees, usually oaks but also hazels, poplars, mulberries and willows and rooted out by specially trained dogs or pigs.

• With demand growing in recent years, hunters have become increasingly competitive and there have even been reports of skulduggery, such as poisoning the champion dogs of rivals.

• The biggest white truffle ever found weighed 2.52kg.