Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Is the aphrodisiac quality of white truffle a myth or true fact?

Bit of both! Why Truffle is deemed to be an aphrodisiac is to do with the complex of chemicals emitted by the tuber when it ripens. They produce chemicals similar to the androgen hormones secreted by male animals when sexually aroused – present in underarm sweat! The chemical (pheromone) is a proven mating trigger (I caught two salmon once having squirted some fish pheromone onto the fly! I was the only one of our group to catch anything over two days! The top of the bottle then came off in my pocket and I smelt like a polecat for days!) and is secreted from the saliva gland in male pigs (boars) and hence sows tend to be used as 'truffle hunters' (though now somewhat superseded by trained dogs/'hounds').

Raymond Blanc, chef of Manoir Quat'Saisons, says; 'if you want to seduce a woman, go for a truffle dish. It always works. Nothing else is like it. I have known women brought almost to orgasm by the smell and taste of truffles alone'. So - there you have it – Horticultural Viagra I call it!

How many types of truffle are there?

There are about 200 species of true truffles grouped together in what seems an ever increasing number of genera. The commercially most important genera are Tuber (e.g. the Perigord black truffle and Italian white truffle), Terfezia and Tirmania (the desert truffles) although in text books specialising in the taxonomy of truffles you will also find names like Choiromyces, Delastriopsis, Hydnobolites, Picoa, Balsamia, Mattirolomyces, Genea, Pachyphloeus, Stephensia and Sarcosphaera.