Remember the world's priciest truffle?
If not, here's a quick recap: it's a fungus, it cost £28,000, it weighed 1.88lbs and was bought by Zafferano, an Italian restaurant in Knightsbridge.
And the latest news is...it's dead.
According to The Times the fungus may have been a victim of it's own fame: "the excitement and publicity surrounding its purchase was such that the restaurant was overwhelmed for days with people who wanted to see, touch, smell and even be photographed with the acquisition...its fragile structure must have begun to deteriorate in the five days during which it was exhibited."
However there are some elements of foul play involved here which cannot be ignored: "Andy Needham, the restaurant’s chef, then locked it in a downstairs fridge and took the keys with him while he went on a three-day trip to Italy to buy yet more truffles. By the time he returned, and the fridge door was reopened, the magnificent tuber had collapsed into a mouldy sludge."
Buy more truffles? He had a £28k, 1.88lb one in his fridge! How much truffle does one restaurant need? That's like having one of those huge, duty-free shop Toblerones in your fridge and then popping down to the corner shop to buy a bag of fun-sized Mars Bars. It's just silly.
Silly...but with tragic consequences.
A public memorial service is to be held for the truffle early next week.
