When I think of truffles, I imagine hunters tromping through a dark Provencal forest and a trained pig snuffling around damp leaves. The joyful surprise of the huntsman when it uncovers a truffle! The fragrant black prize so carefully cherished, like a pot of gold! Because the black and white truffles of Europe are like gold to everyone who trades in them.
But the sands of Middle Eastern and North African deserts also yield truffles. They’re known as zubaidi, fagaa, terfez, kamaa (or kima), depending on the country they come from. The botanical name is Terfezia Leonis. And now, with winter in the Middle East drawing on, it’s prime time for a desert truffle safari. Well, if you have an experienced Beduin guide. See what else is in season now here.
Desert truffles have been known and valued as a delicacy since antiquity. The Roman poet Juvenal disdained bread and meat, if only he could dine off imported desert truffles. “Keep your grain, O Libya, and unyoke your oxen, if only you send truffles!” he wrote.
Related: desert truffles show anti-cancer properties
A Jewish legend claims that truffles were the original manna that fed the Hebrews during their 40 years’ wandering in the desert. Reasonable to think so, as they have a wealth of protein and antioxidant properties.
The huntsmen who find and sell desert truffles today are the Beduin. They wouldn’t dream of using a pig or a dog to find the fungus. They locate it by noticing where the yellow-flowered “Rock Rose” plant grows (Helianthemum sessiliflorum). This shrub enjoys a symbiotic relationship with the truffle, who transfers phosphorus to its roots. In return the truffle receives photosynthesized nutrients from the Rock Rose. Win-win for plant and fungus, and for the forager, a flag indicating that truffles are nearby.
That’s the prosaic explanation. Much more fun is the legend that claims truffles grow where lightning strikes the sand. This is because there’s a forked crack on the ground where the truffle struggles to emerge. Desert foragers know that under that crack is a truffle.
It’s true that lightning causes changes in the atmosphere where nitrogen is released and washed onto the ground by rain, which fertilizes plants. And it’s true that winter rains favor a larger truffle harvest. But alas for the romantics among us, truffles aren’t born of lightning strikes. Like all mushrooms, they grow from humble spores.
Desert truffles have been an important seasonal source of protein for the Beduin populations; less so today as they become scarce due to scanty winter rains and current geopolitical issues.
When available, they’re grilled over fire, boiled and marinated as salad and stewed with meat. Modern cooks may use them as the common supermarket mushroom (only far, far more expensive) – sauteed in butter with garlic and spices. It’s said that sliced thinly and sprinkled with salt, they’re delicious raw.
Beduin folk medicine uses desert truffles to cure eye infections and skin rashes.
The fungus’s looks aren’t especially appealing, most being a sandy beige with a knobbly skin. There are regional differences in their color; in Turkey, for example, you may find dark-blue desert truffles.
Their flavor depends on where they come from: Kuwaiti truffles are said to be blandly earthy, while Turkish truffles are supposed to have a fine, almost nutty taste. None have the pungent, decadent aroma and flavor of their European counterparts. In any case, desert truffles are full of sand in all their cracks and crevices, and need a lot of careful scrubbing before they’re fit to cook.
The Ben-Gurion University of the Negev tried to cultivate them as a possible sustainable crop, but apparently to no avail, as the only, rare, desert truffles seen in Israel have been brought from the Negev by Beduin. Under all their Arabic names, desert truffles command high prices and are eagerly sought in the markets of MENA countries at this time of year.
::Top photo by Nabih Bulos via LA Times
Bowl of Kema truffles via Curious Foodies
More lovely food from the Middle East:
Tahchin, Iranian Rice with Eggplant and Portobellos
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