I was standing in the Marche (sorry for lack of accents) Forville in Cannes today gazing at a collection of this season’s truffles. Prices started at 200 euro per kilo and proceeded through 350 euro, 400 euro, 750 euro to 2,200 euro. I couldn’t help wondering how the sellers can tell the difference between the quality of one small, knobbly, earth-covered bit of fungus and another. It struck me that the Irish government should really be rooting round underneath the country’s oak trees to see if there isn’t a way of raising some much-needed cash lying buried there.
Boadicea's Chariot 
It’s a thought, Sheona but I’ve always understood truffles to be a Mediterranean delicacy.
They may grow here but I’ve never heard of the Great British Truffle hunt. We have plenty of oaks in this part of the world, but I have no idea how to find them. Perhaps I need a pig! 😉
Did someone mention pig?
OZ
More to the point Sheona, how on earth can anyone even consider spending 2,200 euros on a ‘small, knobbly, earth-covered bit of fungus’? 🙂
Never mind 2,200 Euros, DID SOMEONE MENTION PIG?
OZ
Opps, sorry that was me, OZ.
They are very good at rooting out truffles, but they perform better before they are roasted. 😉
What’s the point of a pig unless it’s been roasted?
Honestly, you humans…..
OZ
It’s more sensible to let them find the truffles and then roast them, OZ 🙂
If it’s any boost to lupine morale, OZ, dogs are better for finding truffles than pigs. The pigs tend to eat them immediately, and apparently trying to stop a full-grown porker from doing what it wants is not easy.
Boadicea, you would get a whole kilo of truffles for that price. At the stall yesterday a French couple were buying! I left before the final price was announced.