Rare white truff le is unearthed ...in a Scots back garden
WHITE truffles are highly sought after by chefs around the world and can be worth a small fortune.
But a gardener who defied the odds by finding one in Scotland unfortunately dug it up before it was fully mature.
Had the golf-ball sized truffle grown much larger, it could have been worth thousands.
Known as the ‘diamonds of the kitchen’, the pungent fungi are most often found in the north of Italy.
So the discovery of one in a garden in Portobello, Edinburgh, has been described by a chef as a one in 200million chance.
The woman who found the truffle, who does not want to be identified, took it to a restaurant where the chef confirmed its authenticity.
Campbell Mickel, who owns the Merienda restaurant in Edinburgh, said: ‘It’s one in 200million. It’s off the charts that this has been found.
‘I jumped into the car as soon I got the call and went down to see for myself pretty quickly.
‘It was quite a young truffle and it had been out of the ground so it was imperative we used it before it was too late.’
The finder was working in her vegetable patch when she discovered the ‘odd object’.
She posted a picture of it on social media, asking: ‘Has anyone
‘I went down to see for myself’
else found white truffles growing in their back garden? I think I have!
‘It looks just like this picture and smells weird.’
The truffle is now being used as an ingredient in Merienda’s ‘Hot Potato and Roast Parsnip’, with proceeds of the dish being donated to baby bereavement charity simba.
The truffle finder said: ‘I can’t believe I found a truffle in my back garden. I was giving the vegetable patch an autumn overhaul and I just raked it up.’
The gardener explained why using the truffle for charity meant so much to her.
Referring to the death of her nephew, she said: ‘The truffle is named after my sweet little nephew Luca, a very special boy with amazing spark and character and resilience, our tiny, precious local hero.
‘I chose the simba charity as it provides memory boxes to families at a time of great loss and these are so very important to parents.
‘I have seen the care and work that goes into making these boxes first hand.
‘They are beautifully presented and filled with the most important and treasured memories of some very special babies.’
White truffles are normally found in the Piedmont region of northern Italy, and the price of the delicacy varies widely depending on availability.
Last year, prices hit £4,000 a kilo compared to £2,500 a kilo the previous year, after a dry summer in Italy led to a drought.