As Morski writes, there is currently a shortage of one of the most expensive types of items of this sort in the world – Istrian white truffles. Truffle farmers across Istria are becoming somewhat desperate, they claim that they did everything according to the rules of the profession, but Istrian white truffles are chronically scarce this year.
Truffle lovers fear that this shortage is just the beginning of what could befall this highly sought-after, expensive culinary delicacy in the near future.
”I come from a family whose several generations have been involved in truffle hunting, and for as long as my memory serves me, I can’t for the life of me remember a situation like this. Some of my colleagues compare it to 2012, when we also witnessed damaging droughts, but I, with a definite dose of anxiety, think that something much worse is at play,” Robert Marusic, one of the founders of the Association of Truffle Growers of Istria from Motovun, told Rijeka portal Novi List.
Due to the shortage of Istrian white truffles, which are the more expensive type, the prices of black truffles could go wild and cost a pretty penny when they otherwise wouldn’t.
”According to what we’re now hearing, the black truffle, especially if it is bought by restaurant owners who don’t have permanent suppliers and higher levels of consumption, is coming in at the amount of five thousand kuna per kilogram. This, of course, isn’t the normal price, because the black truffle is neither something special nor that rare. The intensity of its flavour is immeasurably lower than that of white truffles, and it’s also well distributed. On the other hand, white Istrian truffles are a great gastronomic mystery, and they’re located in an extremely narrow area that borders the areas from Vrh, Livada, Motovun, all the way to Ponte Porton,” noted Marusic, adding that it is a very small area that has specific mineral composition.
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