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Why Hong Kong loves white truffle so much – and why they’re so expensive: from ‘truffle king’ Umberto Bombana to Stanley Ho’s record-breaking tubers, inside the city’s lust for ‘white gold’

A chestnut dish finished with milk foam and white truffle. Photo: Castellana
A chestnut dish finished with milk foam and white truffle. Photo: Castellana

  • One sure-fire way to know autumn is upon us? The culinary world is going crazy for that elusive and desperately expensive ‘white gold’, Alba white truffle – and nowhere gets giddier than Hong Kong
  • Casino magnate Stanley Ho once paid US$330,000 for a single tuber, and Hongkongers regularly claim the biggest pieces at the annual Alba White Truffle World Auction

It’s that time of year again when gourmands get excited – no, not over pecans and all things pumpkin spice, but over the ever-elusive white truffle. Known as “white gold” and “diamonds of the culinary world”, and only available between October and December, the arrival of white truffles in fine dining restaurants serves as an annual reminder that autumn is upon us. And among all the different kinds of truffles that exist, the Italian Alba white truffle is the rarest of them all, and can be even more expensive than gold itself, ounce for ounce.

In 2021, an 850-gram Alba white truffle was sold for €103,000 (US$110,000) while a year later, a 950-gram specimen fetched €184,000 (US$196,000). Both were sold through the annual Alba White Truffle World Auction – a charity event held every November in Piedmont, Italy, featuring the world’s largest and finest white truffles – and both were bought by Hong Kong bidders. In fact, out of the auction’s 23 years of history, there have only been a handful of times when the winning bidder was not from Hong Kong.

Still, these numbers pale in comparison to what the late Stanley Ho – Hong Kong and Macau’s gambling mogul and white truffle connoisseur – paid for his record-breaking tubers in 2007 and 2009. At 3.3 pounds (1.5kg) and 2.86 pounds (1.3kg) respectively, they remain two of the most expensive white truffles ever sold at a whopping US$330,000 each.

Meet the ‘king’ of white truffles

Chef Umberto Bombana with white truffles. Photo: 8 1/2 Otto E Mezzo Bombana
Chef Umberto Bombana with white truffles. Photo: 8 1/2 Otto E Mezzo Bombana
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“Hong Kong is very much a hotspot for white truffles,” says Umberto Bombana, chef and co-owner of 8 ½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana, who had his first taste of the prized ingredient at the age of 13. “My grandmother was working as a chef and preparing a meal for an aristocratic family, and I was able to try some white truffles in a simple pasta. Its smell and flavour has captured my imagination ever since.”

Hailed as the “king of white truffles”, Bombana was appointed the worldwide ambassador of the white truffle by the Piedmontese Regional Enoteca Cavour in 2006 and regularly hosts the Alba White Truffle World Auction from his three-Michelin starred restaurant in Hong Kong. This year’s event will be live-streamed there from Piedmont’s Castle of Grinzane Cavour on November 12, with proceeds from the Hong Kong event going to Mother’s Choice, a local charity that serves children without families and pregnant teenagers.

Why are Alba white truffles so expensive?

First of all, they are seasonal, grown in the wild and can only be harvested once a year. Second, they are extremely finicky and sensitive to changes in temperature and climate, meaning that any slight changes affect their scarcity and supply. Truffle hunting is also a laborious process that involves hunters and dogs to unearth the hidden gems by hand, and once harvested, they must be quickly transported around the world and consumed within 10 days.

“A great truffle has a depth and complexity that goes beyond the senses,” says Alberto Perez, Asia director of Sabatino Tartufi Hong Kong, one of the world’s top truffle suppliers with 110 years of history. “Its aroma can take over an entire room in seconds, and like a great kiss, it can’t be described but experienced.”

Matteo Morello, founder of Castellana, an Italian restaurant in Central, Hong Kong, agrees: “The aroma of the truffle can tell you whether it is of good quality. In Piedmont, we consider the very best white truffles to be ones that are slightly pink on the inside. Although these truffles may not grow very large in size, they have an extremely intense aroma that is highly sought after.”

Maurizio Pace, head chef at LPM Restaurant & Bar. Photo: Handout
Maurizio Pace, head chef at LPM Restaurant & Bar. Photo: Handout

The shape and size-to-weight ratio of the white truffle also matters, according to Maurizio Pace, head chef at LPM Restaurant & Bar, inside H Queen’s, Central. “It gives an indication of the soil that the truffle has matured in and how fresh it is,” he says. “I would also look at its colour, moisture level and aroma. Just like a fine wine, the truffle can have notes of hazelnut, walnut and so on.”

Where do most truffles in Hong Kong come from?

When asked where their white truffles were sourced from, most restaurants prefer not to name their actual supplier but claim that they are from Alba. That said, not all Italian white truffles come from the Alba region in Piedmont.