Scientists claim that the vast kingdom of mushrooms, and not only the one of edible species, but above all the variety of their microscopic representatives is among those groups of living organisms that haven’t been researched enough at all. There is an edible mushroom species that is worth a fortune, but still hasn’t been well-studied. We are talking, of course, about truffles. It is a mystic mushroom, living underground with troves that are kept in secret and passed from father to son, almost the way gold diggers did it… This situation is more than understandable – a kilo of truffles is worth several thousands of euro, depending on the type and growth of those nondescript tubers with a divine smell. A white truffle, weighing some 1.5 kg was sold in 2007 for the record price of EUR 250,000.

Are there any truffles in Bulgaria?

“Bulgaria should be very rich in truffles with its nature,” Mr. Boris Asiov, a mushroom researcher from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences /BAS/ claims. “However, truffles have that special feature – they are sought and gathered with the help of specially trained dogs only and those are extremely expensive. One of the reasons for our little knowledge on truffles in Bulgaria is that we have very few dogs of this kind. Being scientists, we don’t have such dogs at all. At the same time neighboring Greece develops this activity very fast and they have already gathered a huge database for their truffles. This is to happen here.”

Truffles are one of Bulgaria’s undiscovered treasures, the scientist says. There are some 100 species across the globe, ¼ of those can be seen in Europe. They are divided in blacks and whites, as the latter are more precious. There are 4 kinds of truffles in Bulgaria, out of the 8, appreciated by chefs around the globe. France and Italy are most famous with their truffle wealth. Black truffle is common for Perigord, South France, while the white one can be found in Piemonte, North Italy. 

A white truffle hasn’t been discovered in Bulgaria so far, or at least no one has admitted such a thing. Warm climate and the existence of a mixed forest with poplar, lime, willow, oak, hornbeam trees etc. – these are the major conditions that truffles need. Almost the whole Bulgarian territory responds to these criteria.

“Truffles need a mutually profitable co-habitation with different tree species, as they interweave their spawns into the trees’ roots, in order to grow properly,” the expert explains. “This doesn’t happen so often and is a question of a chance, since the different kinds of truffles opt for different trees. To sum up, the creation of truffles is practically unpredictable. That is why it is so hard for their seekers, hence the crazy prices…”

Truffles have been mentioned in this country for a decade or two. Their seekers kept their activities in a complete secret at first. Then anonymous stories appeared in media, making the extreme profitability of this business very clear. Few people started it, buying the first specially trained dogs. Obviously there are black truffles in Bulgaria, but their fields are still kept in secret. The precious mushroom has been artificially grown for a long time in states with traditions, such as France and Italy.

“Truffles have been cultivated very successfully since the beginning of the 19th century,” the scientist says. “Nowadays there are truffle plantations at many spots in Europe, even in northern countries, such as Great Britain and Sweden. It is considered that 80 percent of the truffles in France are artificially grown. Thus their natural resources remain untouched and at the same time the revenues of the producers are more guaranteed. Currently many companies offer saplings, contaminated in advance with truffles and those should only be planted in a suitable area. The first harvests appear between the 3rd and the 5th year and the quantities produced increase significantly through each next season. It is claimed that the revenue from 1 ha in a truffle plantation may reach EUR 100,000 per year. One should be prepared to invest a bit, but the business is definitely a profitable one.”

Foreigners have been investing in truffle plantations in this country for a few years. Experts say that this occupation could replace successfully the production of tobacco, as the EU does not grant any subsidies in this sector anymore. Thus the living of many people, living in the mountainous area of Rhodope for instance can be preserved via this alternative option.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev