What is whitish, mottled, lumpy, pungent, and might generally be qualified as visually underwhelming and unattractive, yet is a luxury food that normally costs in the range of $7 - 8,000 per Kilo?
My wife and I had the opportunity to find out just before Christmas at a $60 per plate event held at Konoba, the Croatian restaurant and lounge in Hess Village. The answer is of course a sought-after seasonal delicacy Tuber magnatum Pico. That’s white truffle to you and me, and no, we’re not talking the chocolate kind. Rather we were sampling the elusive fungus hunted with dogs (really – there are lots of videos on YouTube) in the Motovun forest in Istria, Croatia.
The white truffle is truly a luxury item available in the fall through to December. They are tasty (more on that below) and aromatic beyond belief, which is why dogs (and pigs) can be trained to find them where they grow in the wild. The most highly prized are from Italy and Croatia and, according to Wikipedia, stratospheric prices in the range of hundreds of thousand dollars have been paid for large specimens of a kilo or so.
We were among a small group of enthusiastic guests that joined Konoba’s Chef and co-owner, Vedran
