What are truffles and why are they so expensive?

Answer 1

A truffle is a type of fungus, so you could think of it as a mushroom. They are typically quite expensive because of their limited quantity and difficulty of acquisition: pigs (or sometimes dogs) are used to "root" them out of the ground.

Answer 2

Truffles are a mushroom that grows under very special conditions underground. Pigs and dogs are trained to sniff these delicacies out. They are expensive because they are scarce and no one has mastered the technique to culture them. A large one was found about a year ago and sold for about $80,000 dollars and was locked in a safe, but when the safe was opened, they found that the truffle has gone bad, but the French Truffle Association promised to replace the value with smaller truffles. There are two types, black and white truffles, the black come mainly from the Perigord area of France but a few are from north Italy but the more common type is the Piedmont truffle which has a more delicate flavor. The Greeks and Romans thought them to have an aphrodisiac property, the fro a period of time, they were thought to be a manifestation of the devil, but the man that really began the truffle-mania was Louis XIV of France and they were eagerly eaten by those with enough money to afford them. They have a pungent, earthy aroma. They can be eaten raw and the white is often shaved over pasta or eggs. A specialty of Abruzzi is called 'vincisgrassi' made of pasta, butter, cream, truffles, ham and chicken livers. Fresh truffles are expensive but many cooks use truffle oil (still not cheap) but only a drop or two is enough to flavor pasta or salads.

Answer 3

Why Truffles Are So Expensive

Answer 4

Truffles are a type of mushroom that grow underground. They are extremely rare and are regarded as the 'diamonds of cooking'. Pigs or dogs are used to find them, and the scent is something pigs are attracted to. There are in general two types of truffle, the black and the white. Out of these I think the white truffle is more common. The white truffle is known to have a 'garlicky' taste. They are usually only used in the finest of restaurants. The biggest truffle ever found weighed about 1 kg and was sold at an auction at a price of $111,000 USD (source:http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/154000437/4025350.search?query=truffle+bombana)!!

The black truffle comes mostly from Europe: France (45%, Perigord is famous for its truffles), Spain (35%) and Italy (20%).

The white truffle is fround mostly in Italy.

Answer 5

The truffle is very expensive because they are very hard to find and very rare. They grow at the bottom of certain trees and a pig is needed to snif and dig them out of the ground. If you don't want that expensive you can get truffle oil. It has the same taste as the truffle at more that half the price.

Answer 6

Truffles as in the fungus are a delicacy and are extremely expensive because they aren´t cultivated. They grow in nature and the only way to find them is with pigs who can pick up the scent. Dogs are being trained to perform this act as well, but it seems that hasn't been highly succesful.

Truffles as in the chocolate are expensive because if made properly they are hand made and contain pure chocolate as well as lots of real butter.

Answer 7

They are a fungus.
They are expensive because the market can bear the pricing
A truffle dog can go for $50,000. They rub a mother dog's nipples with truffle oil and the pups develop a sense for the scent while feeding and later can track the scent from the ground.

Answer 8

Truffles are like mushrooms, only they grow exclusively under ground. To find them, you need to train dogs to sniff them out (they used to do it with pigs but the pigs would ruin the truffles) and then dig for them. They are a delicacy, but i think they taste like dirt. They are expensive because they are hard to find, and because you can't grow them. They grow where they want to, literallly...there isn't a system,just that they grow near the roots of trees.

Answer 9

truffles are either very rare mushrooms, or really really good chocolate candies. Which do you mean? They are both expensive. The chocolates because they are painstakingly made with very fine ingredients, and the mushrooms because they are rare, hard to find, and delicate. Read this http://www.mssf.org/cookbook/truffles.html

Answer 10

Its a type of mushroom.

They are so expensive because they grow in only a few places and take a specially trained dog/pig to find them.