Stalker was unaware that one could turn up the much coveted tuber aestivum in Ireland, but apparently so.
It fruits most commonly under beech trees in the limy soil of the midlands and sometimes under oak and birch. It has a warty skin as black as winter truffle, and needs a good scrub before eating.
An Italian white truffle, said to be the world’s biggest, sold for nearly £40,000 at an auction before Christmas, according to Sotheby’s. The truffle, found in November in Umbria, weighed 4lb and was twice the previous record.
Tuber aestivum, the so called summer truffle goes for €6,600 per kilo on the continent – maybe going truffle hunting this summer in Ireland could pay off.
