The Truffle Shuffle

I don't tend to read "The Times of India". Don't get me wrong. I'm sure it's a great newspaper. It's just not the sort of thing I bump into in Hackney - not even in my local tandoori restaurant. But due to the miracle of the world-wide web, I found this fascinating piece in the paper's pullout section "The Economics Times" the other day. According to this article, a world-record price was paid on November 13th at auction for the planet's most expensive subterranean fungus - a 1.5 kg rare White Alba. The gavel came down (not on the truffle, fortunately) at £82,056 (US$160,000) to Hong Kong property tycoon Sir Gordon Wu.

Head Chef Umberto Bombana of the Ritz-Carlton checks the smelly monster

The auction, at Castle Grinzane Cavour in Italy, was globalised via satellite links to Hong Kong and Paris and resembled a sale of Picassos, German teddy-bears or John Lennon memorabilia. At least when you buy a 1929 Château Margaux you can keep the cork in the bottle until a suitable occasion arises. Wu's "ugly and odoriferous lump", on the other hand, had to be consumed within three days and was duly served up over a five-course banquet hosted by the billionaire at the Hong Kong Ritz-Carlton. The simple truffle, a fungus once unheard of on these shores, is now undeniably to be found at the apex of food fashion. Considered a delicacy on a par with caviar and foie gras, la truffe is to be found on the menu of every restaurant in the world with a Michelin plaque outside and many other eateries.

It's a strange beast, differing vastly in appearance, size and shape according to species. The best known types are the black, white and Chinese varieties, but due to the creature's subterranean habitat there are probably many varieties yet to be sniffed out. I first encountered the name of the beast when I was very, very young. It featured in my favourite film of the time, "The Goonies". The admission fee for Chunk to enter "Mouth" Walsh's home (mouthwash - geddit?) was for him to expose his truffle-like podge and wiggle it about while making gurgling noises. Thus was born the name "the truffle shuffle".

The recent auction and accompanying banquet may have been a big hit, but not all truffle-related stories have a happy ending. Just ask Andy Needham, Head Chef at Zafferano. The reason this week's news feature caught my eye was that I still chuckle when remembering an article about Needham and "the Paltrow truffle", that I read during my first year in college (yes, it was that Paltrow!). Unearthed in hills near Florence by a sniffer dog and sold to Zafferanos in London, the "Pope of all truffles" was put on display for one week and then stored in a safe in the restaurant's fridge for several days. Alas... the delay was too long. The defunct delicacy was buried "with full honours" in Andy Needham's back garden and the only thing that Gwyneth and her co-owners got to eat was their syndicate loss - a cool £28,000.

So... the relevance of all this is that, while in the walk-in fridge at work the other day, I happened to stumble across this little fella, or should I say this very big fella. Wow, did I get excited! Maybe I had in my left hand the new contender for pride of place in The Guinness Book of Truffle Records. Never having handled anything larger than a sliver of queen fungus and a miniature bottle of its oil, I had no idea what treasure I held in my hands. I simply had to ask and find out.

And the answer was... Nobody seems too sure! After having a little look on the internet, I've come to the conclusion that it could be a "puffball mushroom". This enormous spherical fungus apparently belongs to the Lycoperdales order and has spores hidden underneath a layer of tough outer skin. Well it's been eaten by now, so there's no chance of a more detailed examination. If anyone out there does know for sure what this species is, please let me know. Curiouser and curiouser...

Duas semanas há, uma trufa foi comprado para mais maior preço em todo de história. Assim, o outro dia fui excitada muito quando encontrei uma trufa enorme no refrigerador no restaurante onde eu trabalho. Mas eu tinha feito infelizmente um erro, e o objeto era somente um cogumelo gigante!