Learn why truffles (fungi, not chocolates) are so expensive

Different and even a little strange, truffles are illustrious unknown to many people. No, we are not talking about the chocolate that gets the same name, but the fungus that is born underground. They can be found in three types: the white truffle, the black truffle and the summer truffle, and one of the many similarities between them is the exorbitant price tag.

Those who have the opportunity to come face to face with this food - and to taste it mainly - report that the smell and taste are very pleasant. However, not many achieve this feat, as one of its greatest features is the high value and not all have the opportunity to pay what you charge for it.

In early December 2014, Sotheby - the worldwide auctioning company - sold a white truffle considered the largest in the world. The bidder was an unidentified Chinese. He paid the $ 61, 250 trifle. And look that this value was considered a bargain, since last year's rains yielded a great crop.

The reason for astronomical value

And do you know why truffles are so expensive like that? A lot of people have no idea and, to explain further, the folks at mental_floss went to talk to Vittorio Giordano, vice president of Urbani Truffles USA, the company responsible for truffle hunting (this is really the term used instead of collecting or harvesting) and distribute them to establishments.

"Truffles are a wild, natural product. It's not something you can grow or control, " Giordano explained. He also commented that people have long tried to make their truffle farms. Although the United States and Australia use a lot of technology to do this, planting has been unsuccessful and rarely results in good products.

How is the truffle harvested

Today there are about 18, 000 people working for Urbani throughout Italy. The truffle hunter enters the woods and usually uses a dog to sniff where the food is hiding. And this is no easy task. It takes several employees to get enough for distribution.

All because a single person gets a very small amount, less than 100 grams. Therefore, the company needs to hire a lot of people to work on this task in order to have enough to sell to restaurants and distributors. And everything needs to be done very fast so that the food does not lose its characteristics.

As soon as the truffle is unearthed, a part of it is put back into the ground so that it can reproduce again. And the race begins after that, as the food immediately begins to lose water by evaporation. The company spares no effort - and money - to get it right on the consumer's plate.

Who has no dog hunting with pig

As has been said, hunters use a dog to sniff out the truffles (since their scent is very strong). But it was not always so. In the past, people used nuts to look for food. That's because, for the female, truffles give off a testosterone-like odor and they can find them much easier and much faster.

"But there is a problem: the pigs eat the truffles. They find the product and don't want to give it back, " said Giordano. To solve this problem - and also because the use of pigs has been banned since 1985 because they damaged truffle beds - dogs have been trained to sniff the food more accurately. And it worked.

Everything helps

Giordano said the truffles must reach restaurants and distributors less than 36 hours after the Italian harvest, no matter where the applicant is. And it goes without saying that all these reasons together make the value of the truffle so high, since the work is heavy and the expenses are numerous.

"Black truffles, the most common variety, currently cost about $ 95 per ounce [each ounce equals 28 grams], while white truffles are at the top, worth $ 168 an ounce, " he concludes. So the next time you see this food on a restaurant menu, you don't have to be scared. No one missed the price.