A small Italian village renowned for its white truffles will give US President Barack Obama a record specimen weighing in at more than a kilo as a reelection present.

Italian stock markets are sharply down this year, but the price of white truffle has doubled to 3,000 euros ($4,100) per kilogram in just a week.

Truffle hunters say the increase is due to low average rainfall in areas where truffle is found, as well as higher demand — particularly from buyers in Asia where truffle tastes have taken off, Italian news agency ANSA reported.

The price is now at around 3,000 euros for large truffles and some 2,500 euros per kilogramme for smaller tubers — far higher than last year.

What was created as a novelty item last year has now been added to a popular New York restaurant menu permanently.

The ‘Serendipity Foot Long Haute Dog’ was admitted into the Guinness World Records last year for being the most expensive hot dog in the world, at $69.

Months after its creation, Serendipity 3, has now put the luxurious ‘haute’ dog on their menu for the deep-pocketed, hot dog aficionado.

The foot-long hot dog (30 cm) is made from pure beef, grilled in white truffle oil, sandwiched in a pretzel bun from Germany, and toasted with white truffle butter.

Ian Purkayastha’s teenage revolution didn’t involve rock groups, rebelling against his parents or embarrassing fashion experiments.

For him it was: “black truffle ravioli with foie gras sauce”.

And three years later, aged 18, Purkayastha not only remembers the “amazing” taste of that dish, but he’s turned himself into one of America’s leading truffle tycoons.

Stanley Ho recently matched his own world record price paid for a truffle when he bought a couple white truffles for a total cost of $330,000 at a truffle auction.

The billionaire made his winning bid through representatives at the event held at his own Grand Lisboa hotel in Macau last week end.

Ho’s winning bid bought him a giant truffle from Italy’s central Tuscany region that weighed about 900 grams and a smaller one of about 400 grams.

A giant white truffle was sold off on Sunday for 105,000 euros (144,000 dollars) at a lavish auction near the town of Alba in northern Italy, organisers said.

The truffle, presented at the auction in the medieval Castello di Grinzane in a region of Italy famous for its cuisine, weighed 900 grammes.

The price per gramme for the truffle was therefore 117 euros — lower than the rate of 133 euros per gramme paid at the same auction last year.