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| $1,200 a Pound, Truffles Suffer in Heat | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| PARIS — Just about everything in Eduardo Manzanares’s shop, Truffes Folies, is made with truffles. Sausage, cheese, spaghetti — even popcorn. | PARIS — Just about everything in Eduardo Manzanares’s shop, Truffes Folies, is made with truffles. Sausage, cheese, spaghetti — even popcorn. |
| But during the year-end holidays, the main order of business is fresh truffles, especially the Black Périgord truffle, or Tuber melanosporum. With the prized mushrooms being used to stuff Christmas turkeys, chickens or capons, Mr. Manzanares said, Dec. 24 is typically the biggest truffle night of the year in France. | But during the year-end holidays, the main order of business is fresh truffles, especially the Black Périgord truffle, or Tuber melanosporum. With the prized mushrooms being used to stuff Christmas turkeys, chickens or capons, Mr. Manzanares said, Dec. 24 is typically the biggest truffle night of the year in France. |
| But it is also becoming an increasingly expensive tradition. Black Périgords and other types of truffles are becoming scarcer, and some scientists say it is because of the effects of global warming on the fungus’s Mediterranean habitat. One wholesaler says prices have risen tenfold over the past dozen years. | But it is also becoming an increasingly expensive tradition. Black Périgords and other types of truffles are becoming scarcer, and some scientists say it is because of the effects of global warming on the fungus’s Mediterranean habitat. One wholesaler says prices have risen tenfold over the past dozen years. |
| At Truffes Folies, in the chic Seventh Arrondissement of Paris, Black Périgords are selling for the equivalent of about €2,000 a kilogram, or more than $1,200 a pound — living up to their traditional nickname, “black diamonds.” | At Truffes Folies, in the chic Seventh Arrondissement of Paris, Black Périgords are selling for the equivalent of about €2,000 a kilogram, or more than $1,200 a pound — living up to their traditional nickname, “black diamonds.” |
| Of course, few people buy black truffles by the pound. Still, even a single black truffle big enough for bits to be slipped under the skin of a turkey and the rest added to the stuffing can easily cost €100. | Of course, few people buy black truffles by the pound. Still, even a single black truffle big enough for bits to be slipped under the skin of a turkey and the rest added to the stuffing can easily cost €100. |
| “This hasn’t been a great year for truffles,” Mr. Manzanares said in his shop, which includes a small restaurant. He said some customers had switched to lesser varieties like the Burgundy truffle, Tuber aestivum, also known as the summer truffle, which sells for about €400 a kilogram when in season. The current substitute is more likely to be the winter truffle, Tuber brumale, which sells for about €900 a kilogram. | “This hasn’t been a great year for truffles,” Mr. Manzanares said in his shop, which includes a small restaurant. He said some customers had switched to lesser varieties like the Burgundy truffle, Tuber aestivum, also known as the summer truffle, which sells for about €400 a kilogram when in season. The current substitute is more likely to be the winter truffle, Tuber brumale, which sells for about €900 a kilogram. |
| Like fine wine, truffles are a global luxury, with an appeal to the wealthy that keeps prices high even with Europe in recession. Stanley Ho, the Macau billionaire, paid $417,200 at auction in 2010 for a nearly 1.3-kilogram Italian white truffle, a variety more treasured than even the Black Périgord. | Like fine wine, truffles are a global luxury, with an appeal to the wealthy that keeps prices high even with Europe in recession. Stanley Ho, the Macau billionaire, paid $417,200 at auction in 2010 for a nearly 1.3-kilogram Italian white truffle, a variety more treasured than even the Black Périgord. |
| There are various reasons for what has actually been for decades a decline in the harvest of black truffles from southern France, Spain and Italy, including shrinking forests and changes in land use. In France alone, the annual black truffle harvest has fallen from about 1,000 tons in the 1930s to around 50 tons these days. | There are various reasons for what has actually been for decades a decline in the harvest of black truffles from southern France, Spain and Italy, including shrinking forests and changes in land use. In France alone, the annual black truffle harvest has fallen from about 1,000 tons in the 1930s to around 50 tons these days. |
| The painstaking nature of truffle gathering also adds to the cost. Despite gradual improvement in cultivation techniques, the subterranean fungi are still sniffed out by trained dogs and then carefully dug by hand from the tangle of tree roots in which they grow. | The painstaking nature of truffle gathering also adds to the cost. Despite gradual improvement in cultivation techniques, the subterranean fungi are still sniffed out by trained dogs and then carefully dug by hand from the tangle of tree roots in which they grow. |
| But now, a team of scientists writing in the British journal Nature says that part of that decline appears to be linked to climate change. They found that the harvest of the French and Spanish black truffle correlates closely with summer rains, while the truffle habitat has suffered over the past few decades from hotter summers and less precipitation. That trend is expected to continue, according to most climate models. | But now, a team of scientists writing in the British journal Nature says that part of that decline appears to be linked to climate change. They found that the harvest of the French and Spanish black truffle correlates closely with summer rains, while the truffle habitat has suffered over the past few decades from hotter summers and less precipitation. That trend is expected to continue, according to most climate models. |
| The scientists say that the exact reasons hotter, drier summers should reduce yields is unknown, but that it may be because the subterranean fungus and its host trees, mostly oaks and hazelnuts, end up competing for water when rainfall is scarce. “If we know the reason, maybe we can adapt and compensate,” said Ulf Büntgen, the paleoclimatologist who led the study. | The scientists say that the exact reasons hotter, drier summers should reduce yields is unknown, but that it may be because the subterranean fungus and its host trees, mostly oaks and hazelnuts, end up competing for water when rainfall is scarce. “If we know the reason, maybe we can adapt and compensate,” said Ulf Büntgen, the paleoclimatologist who led the study. |
| Scientists will be watching to see whether the truffle harvest will continue its steep decline if — as climate forecasts hold — Mediterranean basin summers keep getting hotter and drier. | Scientists will be watching to see whether the truffle harvest will continue its steep decline if — as climate forecasts hold — Mediterranean basin summers keep getting hotter and drier. |
| While Mr. Büntgen’s team predicts a continued drop in the Mediterranean truffle yield, they hold out the possibility that other, more northerly regions might become increasingly hospitable growing areas, the same adaptive phenomenon that has led some French Champagne producers to start looking north to England as a possible future site for vineyards. | While Mr. Büntgen’s team predicts a continued drop in the Mediterranean truffle yield, they hold out the possibility that other, more northerly regions might become increasingly hospitable growing areas, the same adaptive phenomenon that has led some French Champagne producers to start looking north to England as a possible future site for vineyards. |
| Mr. Büntgen said the Burgundy truffle was already being found north of the Alps more frequently than in the past. | Mr. Büntgen said the Burgundy truffle was already being found north of the Alps more frequently than in the past. |
| The researchers noted that Italy’s black truffle yields had not shown a climate-related falloff, which they speculated was because the habitat of Tuber melanosporum there has traditionally received twice the rainfall of other places it grows, and thus has a built-in buffer against the effects of global warming. | The researchers noted that Italy’s black truffle yields had not shown a climate-related falloff, which they speculated was because the habitat of Tuber melanosporum there has traditionally received twice the rainfall of other places it grows, and thus has a built-in buffer against the effects of global warming. |
| To be conclusive about any of this, though, Mr. Büntgen said much more research would be necessary, to have better data about cultivation and harvests. “The mushroom people in general, and the truffle people in particular, are not good about sharing information,” he said, something complicated by what he called “a huge black market” in truffles. | To be conclusive about any of this, though, Mr. Büntgen said much more research would be necessary, to have better data about cultivation and harvests. “The mushroom people in general, and the truffle people in particular, are not good about sharing information,” he said, something complicated by what he called “a huge black market” in truffles. |
| The truffle market is indeed notoriously opaque, with just one family-owned company, Urbani Tartufi, based in Spoleto, Italy, controlling about three-quarters of the truffle trade. | The truffle market is indeed notoriously opaque, with just one family-owned company, Urbani Tartufi, based in Spoleto, Italy, controlling about three-quarters of the truffle trade. |
| Olga Urbani, a company spokeswoman, said the price Urbani charged its customers, like restaurants and hotels, had risen from about €150 a kilogram for black truffles 12 years ago to about €1,500 a kilogram now, as the harvest declined by about two-thirds. The trends are similar for the Italian white truffle and the Burgundy summer truffle, she said. | Olga Urbani, a company spokeswoman, said the price Urbani charged its customers, like restaurants and hotels, had risen from about €150 a kilogram for black truffles 12 years ago to about €1,500 a kilogram now, as the harvest declined by about two-thirds. The trends are similar for the Italian white truffle and the Burgundy summer truffle, she said. |
| Forecasting a future of fewer truffles, Ms. Urbani said, the company set a strategy about decade ago to diversify from a “pure truffle” business toward what she called the “democratization” of the fungus by making relatively inexpensive truffle products — sauces and the like — for a broader clientele. | Forecasting a future of fewer truffles, Ms. Urbani said, the company set a strategy about decade ago to diversify from a “pure truffle” business toward what she called the “democratization” of the fungus by making relatively inexpensive truffle products — sauces and the like — for a broader clientele. |
| Meanwhile, back in his shop, redolent with the earthy aroma of mushrooms, Mr. Manzanares reflected on his decades in the truffle business. | Meanwhile, back in his shop, redolent with the earthy aroma of mushrooms, Mr. Manzanares reflected on his decades in the truffle business. |
| “Twenty years ago, people bought a lot more, because it wasn’t nearly so expensive,” he said. “Today it really is a luxury product.” | “Twenty years ago, people bought a lot more, because it wasn’t nearly so expensive,” he said. “Today it really is a luxury product.” |