White truffles 白松露 have been described by one famous chef as the diamond of the kitchen.

They are almost as expensive as precious stones because they are extremely hard to find, growing underground 地下 beneath certain trees.

Some of the rarest truffle specimens¹ were auctioned³ 被拍卖 at a VIP dinner in Tokyo attended by sumo wrestlers 相扑运动员 and beauty queens 选美皇后.

The biggest one, found in Italy, was bought by a Japanese millionaire with a chain 连锁 of fashion shops.

He paid $30,000 for it and intends to eat with a bowl of rice.

However, the prices were way down on 下降 a similar truffle auction² last year, when an even bigger truffle was bought for $300,000 in China.

The economy of Japan is thought to be heading for recession⁴ 衰退 and the auctioneers say that's why prices have dropped.

Nevertheless, tickets for the auction cost hundreds of dollars apiece and the hotel was packed 挤满了 with guests, who were of course served truffle sauce 松露汁 with their dinner.