Prized truffle not such a treat for Hong Kong tycoon who spent $161K at auction

HONG KONG (AP) — It might be the world's most expensive truffle, but a Hong Kong billionaire who forked out $160,787 dollars to buy it said he was not such a big fan, a report said Friday.

Sir Gordon Wu admitted that he did not like the famous Alba white truffle much nor the pungent smell of the giant 3.3 pounds fungus, the South China Morning Post reported.

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"I had no idea these truffles were so prized and in fact, I don't really like the smell of them," he said as he and his 40 plus friends arrived for a sumptuous banquet Thursday to consume the huge delicacy.

"But my wife likes the taste and last year a Hong Kong lady bought it (the year's biggest truffle), so I thought it would be a good idea to keep the tradition going," the boss of the Hopewell Holdings property empire was quoted as saying.

Wu and his wife Ivy bid anonymously for the truffle, sold on Sunday at an annual truffle auction in Grizane, northern Italy.

Money raised there will be donated to his wife's favourite charity, Mother's Choice, which provides care for women facing pregnancy crises.

Despite the high price he paid, Wu said he did not find the truffle "that expensive" considering "all the good work done by Mother's Choice to help those mothers abandoned by irresponsible gentlemen."

At the banquet, each dish featured the giant truffle, paired with lobster and parma ham on one dish and creamy scrambled egg on another.

It was also used in the desert with ice cream on hazelnut meringue and vanilla foam, the report said.

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