# Why are truffles (mushroom) so expensive **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 17, 2002, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-truffles-mushroom-so-expensive/137176 "2002-11-17T16:50:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2002, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-truffles-mushroom-so-expensive/137176/1 "2002-11-17T16:50:56Z")
Not the chocolates but the fungi. Why so much $$$? Why can’t you grow them and reduce the cost? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2002, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-truffles-mushroom-so-expensive/137176/2 "2002-11-17T17:03:49Z")
They can and do [http://www.crop.cri.nz/psp/broadshe/perigord.htm](http://www.crop.cri.nz/psp/broadshe/perigord.htm) [http://www.crop.cri.nz/media\_kit/releases/995933280.htm](http://www.crop.cri.nz/media_kit/releases/995933280.htm) ---
**Author:** ![jonpluc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/fbc32d/32.png) [@jonpluc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonpluc)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2002, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-truffles-mushroom-so-expensive/137176/3 "2002-11-17T17:04:03Z")
Because you have to hire a pig to go digging for the stuff otherwise and quite frankly who wants to go to all that trouble? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2002, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-truffles-mushroom-so-expensive/137176/4 "2002-11-17T17:04:13Z")
You can’t cultivate them; people have tried. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2002, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-truffles-mushroom-so-expensive/137176/5 "2002-11-17T17:05:55Z")
Why are they expensive? Simple supply and demand. From [this site](http://members.tripod.com/~BayGourmet/trufflebas.html): > [@](#): > > Growing underground, they are difficult to find and very expensive as a result… In 1994, black truffles sold for $350 to $500 a pound. Why can’t we grow them and make off like bandits? Apparently it’s not that simple. From [this site](http://www.plantin.com/en/html/truffles/howandwhere.html): > [@](#): > > Some mysteries still remain in the cultivation of truffles. We know some of the conditions that helps them grow, but we do not know everything. People have tried and are still trying to grow Tuber melanosporum in different regions of the world which have approximately the same weather conditions you find in South of France: as in Texas, Australia or New Zealand. They were able to grow some kind of truffle but it wasn’t a Tuber melanosporum!..The French Truffles grow in symbiosis with some certain type of trees: oak trees, hazelnut trees. They grow from 10-30cm underground near the roots. In short: a lot of people want 'em, but they’re rare. Until one of those conditions (the supply or the demand) changes, they’ll stay expensive, ya dig? ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2002, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-truffles-mushroom-so-expensive/137176/6 "2002-11-17T17:08:03Z")
But why can’t they? Is this like the diamond thing? That they are artifically inflated and people think anything dug up by a dog (or pig --they tend to eat them dogs don’t) is better than a home grown? ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2002, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-truffles-mushroom-so-expensive/137176/7 "2002-11-17T17:16:42Z")
Actually, people grow them, sort of. I’m not at all aknowledgeable on this topic, so don’t cite me on this, but the truffle only grows in very particular seetings. The soil must have some particular characteristics and the fungus is associated with specific species of trees (I don’t know if it’s a symbiotic relationship, some poster surely will know better). So, people maintain such tree plantations in the areas where the truffle can grow. Then, they use trained dogs (or pigs) to find the fungi (which growth under the soil, hence can’t be spotted, in case you wouldn’t know). That’s apparently the closest you can achieve to “growing” truffles. However, I vaguely remember having read last year about some somewhat successful experiment to grow truffles in a more convenient way. By the way, this would apply only to the real truffle. There are several similar and much more common fungi which are sometimes sold as “truffles” and are way cheaper. However, they don’t have the same gustative qualities, by a long shot. By the way, AFAIK, many (most?) species of mushrooms, even more common than the truffle, can’t be cultivated. I don’t know why, but surely some poster familiar with botanics will be able to enlighten us.