White truffle prices have dropped to lows that have not been seen in over a decade, reports The Wall Street Journal. Abundant rain in the forests around Alba, Italy, where white truffles are foraged, has produced a bumper crop of the fungus. Prices at Albas's truffle market are averaging less than half of what they were last year. At New York's Del Posto restaurant, gourmet diners will now pay $190 for a 10-gram grating, down from $240 last year.
Alba hosts the main market for high-end white truffles, so pricing changes there ripple around the globe. Truffle prices fluctuate week to week based on what the forests are yielding. The current price at Alba is about $1,030-$1,286 per pound, compared to an average of about $2,618 per pound over the course of last season.
White truffles can be found in a few other places such as central Italy and part of Croatia. The black truffle — which is much more plentiful and less costly, though less tasty and fragrant — grows all over Italy and in other countries including France. Diners pay exponentially more the further they are from Alba because the rapidly decaying truffles must be flown around the world. Full Story (Subscription Required)
Related: Italy Will Not Ratify Specialty Food Agreement; Scientists Create Method to Cultivate Truffles.
from Specialty Food News https://ift.tt/2AML7cV
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