Omnivore - ‘Tis the season to eat black truffles at Sotto Sotto
Skyrocketing prices turn the truffle into a glamorous taste
- kabVisio/photos.com
Riccardo Ullio writes to announce:
A delivery of fresh black truffles has arrived at Sotto Sotto! Take a break from the busy holiday season and enjoy an exceptional winter harvest in peak season around our tables. Make a reservation today by calling 404.523.6678.
The New York Times recently published an article about the skyrocketing cost of truffles in Europe, especially black ones. The article blames climate change and the labor-intensive cost of harvesting them.
At Truffles Folies, in the chic Seventh Arrondissement of Paris, black truffles are selling for the equivalent of about 2,000 euros a kilogram, or more than $1,200 a pound - living up to their traditional nickname, “black diamonds.”
Of course, few people buy black truffles by the pound. Still, even a single black truffle big enough for bits to be slipped under the skin of a turkey, the rest added to the stuffing, can easily cost 100 euros.
Making you hungry? Here’s a warning. Don’t count on Truffles Cafe, the former Ruby Tuesday, for any significant use of the ‘shrooms. Maybe you should hunt and cook your own. The North American Truffling Association can help you with that. Ditto for the North American Truffle Growers’ Association. And you can check out Piedmont Valley Truffles in North Carolina. It’s grabbing an ever-larger share of the truffle biz.
During my bicoastal years, I ate at a Montecito restaurant that featured five-course meals, each strongly flavored with truffles and other exotic mushrooms. We did the same at a restaurant in France in the middle of nowhere. Yeah, I love truffles but would never pay the kind of prices charged in most restaurants and markets today.