Andrea Tumbarello, Joan Roca and Óscar García joke about the truffle.. /
The 7,000 euros that the Italian and Soriano chefs paid for two black truffles will go to help an NGO
If there is a day that Andrea Tumbarello has marked on his Madrid Fusión Alimentos de España calendar, it is when the charity raffle for the Soria truffle is held. And how could it be otherwise and as in previous years, the Italian chef monopolized the auction with two luxury guests, his daughter María de él and the chef from Soriano Óscar García. Under the watchful eye of a luxury guest like Joan Roca, the auction began with two aromatic 360-gram pieces of black truffle from Soria,
Although the auction started timidly, it soon warmed up with a Tumbarello that was clear that he had “left the recording of a Master Chef program” to continue being the truffle king of the gastronomic summit. He made the first bid together with his daughter María de él and after a few minutes he achieved the two precious pieces “as a birthday present for my daughter” for 2,500 euros.
The second piece and the most appetizing for everyone was 500 grams and its starting price was 1,000 euros. It rose to 1,200 euros right away with the bid of José Carlos Capel, until Tumbarello, chef at the Don Giovanni restaurant, found an unexpected and tough rival in Óscar García, chef from Soriano at the Baluarte restaurant (Pamplona) with a bid of 4,000 euros. “Actually I come to bid for the truffle on behalf of the Fernández Ribera family, from Bodegas Pesquera, although it seems to me that I have gone beyond the initial budget and I will have to put part of it out of my own pocket,” he admitted with a laugh,
Tumbarello’s negotiating ability was made clear when he proposed to García that they offer 4,500 euros between the two of them and divide the piece in half, a proposal that after a few minutes of excitement waiting to see if someone in the room would increase the bet, ended in a handshake. hands between ‘Trufarello’, as he is already known, and the chef from Soria. “They are of excellent quality and we have made a good deal,” acknowledged the Italian chef who maintains his truffle reign. Some pieces that were paid at 10 euros each gram of the precious Soriana truffle. However, this has not been the most expensive truffle paid by the Italian chef, who has paid up to 8,000 euros for a piece of this very expensive fungus in this charity auction.