On my second evening in Mongu, I told Wiggan that our lunch had been sufficient and I did not need a full supper. When he asked if rice and sugar would be a good snack, I said I would prefer one of the mandarin oranges and a banana. Some time later I wandered into the cooking area and he told me someone had brought some truffles from down the highway towards Senanga. He showed me about 6, each about the size of a medium potato. As he peeled them with a knife, he explained that it was a local food item that they dug from the bush as a poor man's food and a Frenchman had introduced them to him. The friend who had bought them paid 2,000 Zambia kwatcha for a 2 gallon dishpan full (less than 50 US cents). Hmm, I thought truffles were expensive. So, I looked on-line to see what truffle prices might be.
Here is an example of what I found. "White truffles sold for $1,800 to $2,500 per pound last year (2008), down significantly from the average price of $3,500 in 2007. We’re in the midst of truffle-hunting season right now, so 2009 prices are still being set. However, the folks at Italian purveyor Urbani Truffles expect those prices to eventually move up a bit from 2008 levels." They point out that in addition to demand, the size, quality and perhaps even the shape of a truffle will have an influence on its market price. And if you don’t have access to a truffle purveyor, it’s easy to find one on the Internet. At our deadline, Urbani’s online store was selling single ounces of white truffles for $193 each. Shave ’em thin!
As you can see from the photo, we didn’t shave them thin. Wiggan declared he was always afraid to cook for people as he was not a good cook. However, they were quite good cooked in onion and tomato sauce. (Is Julia doing back flips by now?) They had a pleasant mushroomy, beefy, earthy taste with good texture. The only draw back was that I started burping afterwards and kept it up until I went to bed. (Maybe that is why they shave them thin.)
I only ate about a fourth of the offering (say $500 worth) if you estimate we had a pound of final product at $2000 a pound. Wiggan said he had filled up on rice earlier and stuck them in the fridge for breakfast (is this a French faux pas too?) After all the burping the night before, I ate rice and cornflakes for breakfast. At the end I took one chunk of truffle to be polite and to say I once ate truffles for breakfast.
Now I am thinking about export! Burrrp! (scuse me).
