Name: Why Real Truffles Are So Expensive So Expensive
Uploaded: 2019-10-26T23:45:07.000Z
Duration: 6 min 6 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

truffles are an indulgent food enjoyed across the world.

In 2014, the world's largest white truffle was flown

to New York accompanied by a security guard

Discovered in Italy, this gigantic fungus

So, what is it that makes them so expensive?

There are at least 40 species, many of which aren't edible,

and new species have been discovered as recently as 2018.

You've probably seen luxury truffle products

but the unique truffle flavor you recognize

Many cheaper truffle products use 2,4-dithiapentane,

of the main aromatic components of foot odor,

guaranteed to give it that "earthy" taste.

They were originally sniffed out using truffle pigs,

but while pigs are very good at finding truffles,

they're also very good at eating them, too.

And these days, dogs are much more common

These fungi can be found across the world,

but they all require a very specific climate to grow.

somewhat different requirements, one thing is certain.

James Feaver: Truffles are always found with trees,

and they have to be the right type of trees.

Under the ground, the truffle is just the fruiting body,

And we've also got a lot of then what we call

and up to 100 meters in a teaspoon of soil.

And this mycelium is actually attached to the roots

of a tree like the fingers of glove onto a hand.

And it sort of extends the reach of the tree out.

And it actually takes up water and nutrients

and passes them to the tree, and the tree gives it sugars

in return, so to help the truffles, the fruit, develop.

Narrator: Even when you have exactly the right conditions,

and hunting them is a labor-intensive process.

Once you know where to look, you have to sniff out

Feaver: Good boy, thank you, good boy, come!

So he just told us there it's still in the ground.

So do I want to take it out of the ground or not?

If it's unripe, there's no point in having it.

but finding a good one can make it worth the work.

Narrator: Truffles also have a short season,

often appearing for only a few months of the year.

And even when you do get your hands on them,

Feaver: An unripe truffle, unlike a tomato,

once the truffle is out of the ground, the clock is ticking.

So it's just sort of slowly gonna degrade over time.

So we want to get it out to the customers nice and fast.

Narrator: After just five days out of the ground,

that pungent truffle smell will have halved.

in setting up truffle orchards, but it's not easy.

Trees need to be planted in the right soil conditions,

and there's no guarantee that the fungi will grow at all.

So after all that effort, what do they actually taste like?

Leon Siciliano: The smell just made me think

I mean, this is the first time I've actually eaten

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