At $100 per pound, it pays to trifle with Georgia truffles

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Posted 7:44AM on Sunday, January 12, 2003

LEARY - The French use hogs and dogs to sniff out the pricey truffles favored by fine chefs around the world. But managers of the stately Magnolia Plantation rely on Robert Wilkerson, an experienced farmer, to locate and gather the underground mushrooms that are prized for their earthy taste. Discovered about 13 years ago in the pecan orchards of southwest Georgia, pecan truffles are milder and considerably less expensive than the famous black truffles from France or the even more costly white truffles from Italy. But at $100 per pound, it still pays to trifle with Georgia truffles. Truffles grow from a fungus on the roots of certain trees. They form an underground web of tiny filaments that extend the tree's root system. In return, they benefit from the nutrients the tree generates above ground through photosynthesis. If nature cooperates just the right climate, soil and other mysterious conditions that scientist still do not fully understand a knobby fruit develops. It's this fruit that causes the global fungus frenzy. A Los Angeles restaurateur recently paid $35,000 for a huge, 2.2-pound Italian white truffle. Black French truffles can sell for $600 to $1,500 per pound, depending on the size of the crop. Regular mushrooms spread their spores in the wind, but truffles depend on animals to eat them and spread spores from their manure. Oregon fungi expert Charles Lefevre, president of the North American Truffling Society, said truffles contain androstenone, a sexual stimulant for pigs. There's evidence the pheromone also affects humans and numerous Web sites offer it as a ``love scent.'' The androstenone makes pigs natural-born truffle snoopers, but dogs have to be trained. Wilkerson, 60, the manager of Magnolia's 400-acre pecan orchard, finds truffles by looking for small bulges in the soil. Some even protrude above the soil. He has found about 50 pounds in each of the last two years. ``Robert might not be as good as one of those hogs or dogs, but he does a pretty good job,'' said Magnolia manager Frank Stimpson. The 12,000-acre plantation, located about 20 miles west of Albany, has the largest and most consistent production in Georgia. But even at Magnolia, the truffles are limited to only 100 acres where the soil is unusually dark with clay and organic matter. ``They like the black soil and shade,'' said Wilkerson, who has managed pecan orchards for about 29 years. Wilkerson finds only the most obvious truffles, usually from August to November. They mature at a time when most growers are too busy harvesting the state's $100 million pecan crop to bother with truffles. ``You don't ever find what's out here,'' Stimpson said. ``We just get the ones that are visible.'' For years, growers didn't know what they were and threw them out with the debris picked up by sweeping machines that gather pecans. Tim Brenneman, a University of Georgia plant pathologist, discovered them about 13 years ago and has been trying to develop markets ever since. The species was first identified in 1958 in Texas, which also has pecan orchards. ``They will never replace the high-dollar white and black truffles of Europe,'' Brenneman said. ``But among the chefs who have cooked with them, the consensus is that they do have very desirable characteristics.'' A few years ago, Brenneman sent some to Elizabeth on 37th, a Savannah restaurant that specializes in fine Southern cuisine. Now, the restaurant's creamed rice with country ham and vegetables features shaved pecan truffles. ``They have a very earthy flavor typical of truffles,'' said restaurant spokeswoman Morgan Schaff. ``They're very rich and have a slight nutty flavor.'' Schaff said Elizabeth's has been buying truffles from Magnolia Plantation for the past two years and plans to continue. ``I've thought all along that the potential would be there,'' Brenneman said. ``It's just taken a while for the momentum to build. Everyone is looking for something unique, something different. Truffles are a desirable high-end product, but a lot of restaurants can't afford the classic truffles from France or Italy. This is something that's unique to pecan trees. I think it has a special niche.'' In hopes of reproducing them, Brenneman has planted a few seedlings that have roots inoculated with the truffle spores. But truffles are slow to develop, so he may have to wait a few years before seeing any results. Oregon has two native truffles one white and one black but Lefevre said harvesting before the fruit reaches its peak of flavor has been a turnoff for some chefs and has hurt the industry. Lefever, who has a doctorate in mycology the study of fungi runs New World Truffliers, a business that sells inoculated truffle trees to growers who want to produce black French truffles. ``The market for truffles in this country is largely untapped ... so I believe there is definitely an opportunity for truffle farmers,'' he said.