Despite its rather earthy roots – pun intended – white truffles have fast become one of the world’s most sought-after ingredients, with celebrity chefs from Gordon Ramsey to Otto e Mezzo’s own Umberto Bombana eager to utilise its pungent aroma and fulsome flavours to raise their dishes to new heights. To celebrate the start of white truffle season, here are five lesser-known facts about this fine fungus.
1. The Nose Knows
While black truffles are cultivated much like any other fruit or vegetable, white truffles are, in fact, much harder to farm. In fact, finding these underground funghi is more akin to a treasure hunt, with specially-trained pigs (and sometimes, dogs) required to sniff them out. Why pigs, you ask? That’s because they scent out white truffles more easily since the fungus exude a smell similar to the male pig pheromone.
2. The Record Breaker
It’s no secret that white truffles command staggering prices, with the going rate averaging between US$1,000 and US$2,000 per pound. But back in 2007, Macanese gambling mogul Stanley Ho reportedly set a record when he paid US$300,000 for a single 3.3lb specimen.
3. The Sex Appeal
As with chocolate and oysters, white truffles have long been considered an aphrodisiac. So much so that during the Middle Ages, monks were banned from eating these heady morsels for fear that it would make them forego their celibacy vows.
4. Eat-aly Only
Unlike black truffles, which are farmed in Britain, France and much of Western Europe, white truffles can only be found in Italy. More specifically, they’re almost exclusively limited to the Piedmont region on its northern border.
5. Diminishing Returns
Sadly, there’s bad news for the world’s burgeoning population of white truffle aficionados. This much-favoured fungus seems destined for extinction, with the total supply harvested decreasing year after year. And, with the advent of global warming, unsustainable demand and soil erosion due to fungicides, there seems little to turn the tide of its decline. Our advice? Eat these white truffles now, while you still can!