Oddly Enough - Reuters UK


First truffle museum no trifle in Italy

Thu Nov 11,11:03 AM ET

By Shasta Darlington

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's warty white truffles, once aphrodisiacs for the ancient Romans and now the most expensive funghi in the world, are finally getting their own museum.

The tiny Tuscan village of San Giovanni d'Asso, one of the main producers of the "white diamonds of Italy", will throw open its doors on Italy's first truffle museum on Saturday.

"It's going to be more than a museum, it's going to be an assault on the senses," said Enzo Francini, head of finances for the medieval town of 950 people.

A pharmacist, a botanist and a chef were called in to help create the museum in a 13th century castle where exhibitions, videos and interactive programmes will explain the history of the prized fungus and recreate the modern-day hunt for it.

But creators are most proud of the "odorama" exhibition which will allow visitors to drink in the heady aromas of dozens of different kinds of truffles.

"There's a reason they're considered aphrodisiacs," Francini said. "They're not exactly viagra, but our chemical tests showed that the smell has a tranquilising effect which puts people in the mood for love."

Truffles are a lumpy fungus that form on tree roots and are harvested with the aid of truffle dogs or female pigs. Italy's white truffles are much rarer and more valuable than the black truffles of France.

Earlier this week, an Italian truffle weighing in at over one kilo (2.2 pounds) set a new international record, fetching $41,000 (22,000 pounds) from a New York restaurateur in a heated auction. Most truffles are a fraction of that size.

Chefs around the globe use slices or shavings of the delicacy to enhance dishes, but the museum will not only highlight fancy recipes, it will trace the tuber's history in Italian and ancient Roman home-cooking.

"They're more than a just a gourmet accessory for us, they're a part of our culture," Francini said.

Indeed, hunting truffles can be a cut-throat venture in Italy, where truffle dogs -- preferred to pigs since they don't eat the prey -- are worth thousands of euros themselves.

In one case of extreme competition a few years back, 12 truffle dogs were mysteriously poisoned in the middle of high hunting season, which lasts from September to January.

Wow...great idea! I'll mark that one my list of things to do when I'm filthy rich. I can just read the headlines now:

"Truffle Museum burgalarized! Prize truffles missing!"

Record-Beating Truffle Goes Home for Burial
Oddly Enough - Reuters



ROME - The world's most expensive truffle returned to Italy to be buried on Saturday.

The warty white fungus, once an aphrodisiac for the ancient Romans and now one of the most costly foods in the world, was bought by a London restaurant at auction last month.

Despite having paid a $52,000 for the precious tuber, the restaurant left the fungus in a safe for too long and it rotted.

When experts in Florence heard, they asked to have the 852 gram (1.9 lb) truffle returned for burial in the hope that it would sprout a even bigger one next year, local agency ANSA reported.

And the fungus fanciers had found a suitably historic resting place.

After a requiem poem and solemn ceremony, the truffle was due to buried under a tree believed to have been planted by Italy's famous 15th century explorer Amerigo Vespucci.

In exchange for its loss, the swanky London restaurant Zafferano would receive a selection of smaller white truffles of the equivalent weight, ANSA said.