KEY POINTS:
At more than $3,000 a kilogram, this year's truffles are being described as a bargain.
The New Zealand season has arrived early, with Auckland's Langham Hotel the first to secure the fungi delicacy.
The Langham's executive chef Ofir Yudilevch told Paul Holmes on Newstalk ZB this morning that truffles grown in New Zealand are usually not ready until July and it was a pleasant surprise when the hotel's suppliers called to let them know the first samples of the rare delicacy for this season had appeared.
"We've been chasing them up for the last six months and so it was quite a nice surprise for [the suppliers] to give me a call and say 'hey, we've got the first few'. It was a bit of luck really," Yudilevch said.
Truffles cannot be planted and suppliers rely on the fungus infecting the roots of oak trees to enable the delicacy to grow - a process which can take up to 15 years.
Truffles are mainly grown in Europe, but New Zealand now produces about 20kg a year for the local market.
Yudilevch said truffles' rarity made them somewhat addictive.
"Once you taste it you want a bit more of it and because it's so scarce and the chef only gives you maybe two or three grams to taste, you kind of want a bit more."
He compared the taste to that of fried sunflower seeds but said chefs had to be careful not to overpower dishes with the distinctive flavour and it was best used in beef dishes.
The world's most expensive truffle weighed 1.51 kilograms and sold for more than $250,000.
- NEWSTALK ZB, NZ HERALD STAFF
