IT’S white truffle season again, and all those people out there who don’t put anything in their mouths that costs less than a used car are in luck. It’s no exaggeration to say that in terms of edibles, white truffles may well be the most expensive thing on the planet.
They’re so pricey, Pete Doherty is thinking about injecting one between his toes.
So costly, 50 Cent wants to mix one with Hennessey.
So expensive, Warren Buffett has one on layaway.
And if the price weren’t already bad enough, connoisseurs are in for a shock this season as prices of the aromatic tuber have doubled. (We know, we know: Guys in ascots might starve, but the rest of us will somehow find a way to pull through.)
The first shock came a few days ago when the Waverly Inn jacked up the price of its infamous truffle-topped mac & cheese from $55 to $85. The dish was an amusing punch line at $55; at $85, it’s just obscene. You know things have gotten bad when you have to decide between buying an appetizer or your kid’s braces.
But while many may suspect that owner Graydon Carter might just need a few more ducats to tip his hairdresser, the Waverly price increase does seem to be in line with the rest of the market.
Experts say that this white truffle season – traditionally from October through December – could be one of the worst ever.
“There are absolutely no truffles, and the prices are skyrocketing,” says Antonio Magliulo of BuonItalia in the Chelsea Market, who imports and sells the fungus. “I used to receive 10 kilograms a week, now very little. Maybe two kilograms.”
As a result of the scarcity, Magliulo says prices have gone from $1,600 a pound to about $3,500, wholesale. (Regular cooks can buy them at BuonItalia for $275 an ounce.)
“We have had some problems,” says Tony May, owner of San Domenico, who serves a truffle menu every year. “This season, there was not enough snow or rain in Italy. The mix was not correct. The ideal environment for white truffle is humidity, and because there was too much sun, too hot, they have not been coming out as well as they should have.”
Al Gore never mentioned that in “An Inconvenient Truth.”
“The prices are ridiculous, I’ll be honest with you, because of the scarcity but also because of the [weakness of the dollar],” says Antonio Galano, owner of Sapori d’Ischia, in Queens, where he serves a reasonably priced four-course truffle tasting menu for $50.
Got some money to burn and ready to indulge, despite prices that make a $400 bottle of Grey Goose at a club look reasonable? Go for it – but experts say, if you’re gonna eat white truffles, the Waverly Inn’s mac & cheese is definitely not the way to do it.
“That’s a very horrible idea,” Magliulo says. “White truffles, they are delicate. You have to serve it with a dish that doesn’t overtake the flavor. The cheese is too strong and takes away all the flavor.”
May agrees. “Look, you can put the white truffle on anything you want as long as you have a good pocketbook,” he says. “If you can have a better dish with it, why use something that’s not appropriate? If you have to have it, why eat second-rate?”
We agree. Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re off to sell plasma.