November 19, 2012 17:42

Jay-Z gives Italian truffle farmers reason to celebrate Jay-Z Tickets

Rapper was seen eating the delicacy in Alba, northern Italy

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Truffle farmers in northern Italy are hoping for a boost in sales after Jay-Z was spotted there eating the delicacy with friends.

According to Italian newspaper La Stampa, the rapper visited Alba in the Piedmont region over the weekend where he ate egg and spinach ravioli with white truffle, a speciality of the area, spending around £12,000 on three kilos of the precious subterranean mushroom.

Jay-Z even ventured into the woods with a local farmer and his dogs to search out the prized truffle. Jay-Z and friends also visited local vineyards to taste variants of Barolo and Barbaresco wines, and drank £8,000 worth of the wines in one local restaurant.

"I was really impressed by his knowledge of wine," said Luca Currado, who runs the Vietti di Castiglione Faletto winemaker visited by Jay-Z and treated him to truffle ravioli at dinner.

Alessandro Bonino, managing director of Tartufi Morra, an Alba truffle retailer visited by Jay-Z this weekend, welcomed the prospect of a hip-hop clientele. "It would be a pleasure," he said.

It's the opposite reaction to the one taken by bosses at Cristal champagne, who were less than pleased with the hip-hop world's endorsement of the drink. To combat the influx of new drinkers, Cristal producers considerably raised the price of the drink. Jay-Z responded by boycotting the brand.

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