If you're unfamiliar with these disgusting-looking fungi called truffles, there's a good reason for that. Truffles are among the most expensive foods in the world, along with caviar and saffron. Up until recently, though, they could only be grown in Italy, Spain, and France.That's all changing, though. Over the last ten years, farmers in Western Australia have been working growing the precious mushroom and they've finally succeeded. The truffle producers are understandably proud of their achievement: they say that several other places have tried and failed to grow truffles.
The farmers are predicting a crop of 600KG to a ton this year and up to 8 tons in coming years. Who knows, maybe they'll produce enough that prices will come down and foodies everywhere will be able to indulge on a regular basis.
5-23-2008 @10:12AM Adam S said... Truffles are not "precious mushrooms." They are not mushrooms at all, they are fungus.
I know this because I am majorly allergic to them (they are almost pure sodium glutamate, which is the natural form of MSG) and have had to figure out what else I couldn't eat.
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5-23-2008 @10:47AM JMForester said... Shayna- There are many varieties of truffles. Some are natural to most of central Asia, northern and southern Africa, the Middle East, and in the Pacific North-West of America as well. Some taste better than others, some are rarer, but they can be found all over the world. There are even some varieties natural to Australia, besides the ones you mentioned that were introduced from Europe.
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5-23-2008 @5:29PM Berkana said... Adam S:
If you are allergic to fungi, you must be allergic to something other than the sodium and glutamate from the fungi. Glutemic acids, including MSG and other glutamate salts dissociate into sodium ions and glutamate ions once wet (whether in your digestive tract or in food with moisture), neither of which you could be allergic to because glutamate is the most abundant neurotransmitter in your body, pervading all your tissues (look it up in a neurobiology book if this sounds surprising). Sodium ions are all throughout your body as well; humans cannot be allergic to these, either as components or together. If you are not allergic to meat or cheese, you cannot be allergic to glutamate salts, since the amino acid glutamine, which is abundant in meat and dairy (especially hard cheeses), breaks down into glutamate, and forms a glutamate salt with any sodium present or added as salt.
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5-23-2008 @5:36PM Berkana said... The truffles in the picture look rather unappetizing. I wonder who was the first to come up with the bright idea of eating these charred dung looking fungi.
On another note, here's a link about the controversy over MSG and its alleged dangers:
http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/food/story/0,,1614469,00.html
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5-23-2008 @5:39PM Alex said... I bet this winds up the truffle farmers in Tasmania ...
I like Sandgropers more than most, but come on, let's give the Tasmanians credit where it's due!
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5-23-2008 @5:40PM Alex said... There should have been a link in that last post but my html was edited out ... sigh ...
http://www.perigord.com.au
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7-04-2008 @3:57AM Edward Charles said... Yes, awfulloking truffles. the industry in Australia started in tasmania. This year the harvest is expected to reach about two tonnes mostly coming from WA and Tassie.Truffles are also harvested in Victoria and NSW. Last year about 800kg were harvested.
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