During the wet winter months Saudis flock to the desert to look for truffles, the pungent yet highly prized culinary ingredient.
The edible fungus, known locally as fage’a, grows mostly in Riyadh’s Al-Thumama desert. Southern and eastern regions in the Kingdom are popular with families for winter camping — and they are also where Saudis go hunting for the delicacy dubbed “diamonds in the dirt.”
Ali Al-Hazmi, from the eastern city of Qatif, has posted photos of his truffle quest on Instagram. “Truffles can be found in clean spaces of the desert where there are no humans or cars, 10 days to a month after rainy days,” he told Arab News.
“I usually go to look for truffles with my friend and I always hope to find the zubaidi type as it is the tastiest, largest and most expensive.”
He said there were four main types of truffle — zubaidi, hobar, khalasi and jaba’a. Zubaidi was the most famous of these, he said. It is large, white and has a distinctive smell. Hobar is small and black. Khalasi is solid and jaba’a is one of the worst, he explained, because it is crumbly.
Truffle prices in Qatif range from SR120 ($32) to SR400 for a kilo. Prices in other parts of the Kingdom vary from SR450 to SR1,200 depending on the type of fungus and its weight, according to Al-Hazmi. Prices tend to be higher at the start of the season because of the process of collecting truffles, which requires effort and luck as they do not have seeds or leaves and are hard to spot. Also, there are no rules when it comes to who can collect truffles or how.
Some Saudi traders import truffles from other countries in the Middle East, including Morocco, Syria and Egypt.
Salim Al-Salhi, from Al-Qassim region, said he enjoyed searching for truffles by walking long distances until he found cracked parts on the ground’s surface. It was one of the signs there could be truffles in the area, he said.
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