$41,000 paid for 2.4 pound Italian truffle

ROME – New York restaurateur Francesco Giambelli dished out a record $41,000 for a 2.4-pound prize Italian white truffle, auction organizers said Monday.

The 85-year-old, who owns Giambelli 50th on New York’s East Side, held off an unnamed opponent in Moscow to claim the largest truffle ever sold at auction, auction director Davide Paolini said.

“It was very aggressive,” he said. “No one has ever paid this much for a truffle.”

Considered a delicacy since Roman times, truffles are a fungus that forms in symbiosis with tree roots. Italy’s white truffles sell for around 10 times the price of France’s black variety.

In total, the auction raised $135,000 from the sale of 19 truffles. The proceeds will be given to charities in the United States, Italy and Russia.