The world's truffle-loving elite are gearing up for what looks set to be a nail-biting bidding war on Saturday when a giant white truffle goes under the hammer at an international auction.
Weighing in at 1.080 kilogrammes, the truffle is not a record breaker but is still expected to fetch thousands of dollars at the auction, which will take place simultaneously in Rome, Abu Dhabi, Macao and London via satellite link-up.
David and Victoria Beckham are expected to be among celebrity bidders, but observers say the auction of the maxi-truffle is likely to come down to a two-man tussle between Chinese business magnate Stanley Ho and Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates race horse enthusiast and new power behind Manchester City Football Club.
Last year Ho set the world record price for a single truffle, forking out 330,000 dollars for a Tuscan truffle weighing 1.5 kg - one of the largest truffles found in the last 50 years.
The giant truffle on sale at Saturday's auction was dug up in the southern Italian region of Molise, and the auction is aimed at showcasing tubers found across the country rather than in the more famous truffle-producing regions of Piedmont and Tuscany.
''The fact that there are truffles, and ones of excellent quality, in Molise will be news to many consumers'', said auction organiser Giselle Oberti.
''There are many truffle-producing regions in Italy, some very well known like Alba, Aqualagna and San Miniato, while others are only just beginning to enjoy a reputation,'' she said, adding that a total of 16 lots from seven Italian regions will be on sale.
The auction will take place at 13.00 GMT at the Hotel Exedra Boscolo in Rome, the Emirate Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi, the Grand Lisboa casino in Macao and celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey's Murano restaurant in London.
White truffles are rarer, more pungent and more expensive than black ones. They have a shorter growing season, in the three months around Christmas. Blacks are more common in the centre and south, whites in the north.
Nestling in the roots of about 50 trees - mostly oaks but also hazels, poplars, mulberries and willows - truffles are rooted out by specially trained dogs.
With demand shooting up over recent years, hunters have become increasingly competitive and there have even been reports of skulduggery such as hamstringing or even poisoning the champion dogs of rivals.
Some of the northern and central fields have been exhausted, partly because of poachers who sell their catches on the black market.
But new areas are emerging, such as the upper reaches of the Tiber, Abruzzo and the Pollino National Park in Calabria.
The biggest white truffle ever found weighed 2.52 kg and was discovered in San Miniato in Tuscany in 1954.
Once you've found your truffle, here's what to do with it, according to Italian superchef Annie Feolde:
''Clean it thoroughly with a pointy knife and a little brush, cut it into wafer-thin slivers and heat them up in marinated butter and a little water from boiled vegetables.
''Then spread the mixture over your piping hot tagliolini and you'll see the steam complete the symphony.''
Top Tuscan chef Aldo Fiorelli says ''you can grate your truffle directly onto your pasta. True aficionados use truffles weighing around 100 grammes. Getting your hands dirty isn't frowned on - quite the opposite, in fact. It makes the experience more convivial and orgiastic''.
