The seasonal makeshift shop-owners at the local market in Kuwait, who sell the ‘Kitchen Diamonds’, are seen busy at the final lap of their sale. Wondering what the Kitchen Diamond is? They are the mysterious Desert Truffles, commonly called as ‘Fagga’ in Kuwait! This ‘potato shaped - mushroom like’ fruiting body is the charm of high profile cuisine and the most favored nutritious food of the season. History has recorded it as a natural mysterious wonder, a fruit with no root, stem, branch, bud, or flower.
Desert truffles are a kind of fungi of genera Terfezia and Tirmania, which form edible fruiting bodies just beneath the surface soil of arid and semi-arid region. Most of the native plants of Kuwait remain dormant in soil till they receive the rain. They emerge out declaring the onset of spring season and Desert truffles are the most awaited ones among them. There is even a belief that the God gifted truffles grow at those areas where thunderstorm touches the ground. Folklore says that, thunder cracks the land and the truffle appears. Science justifies this belief by giving an explanation on how the nitrogen compound which gets dissolved in rain water acts as the catalyst for truffles to form and grow.
However, early rainfall during October and November followed by a bright sunny January with light showers guarantees a good truffle harvest starting from March; provided the land is not disturbed.
They seem to appear suddenly, making small lumps and cracks on the ground, mostly near rockrose bushes. The trained truffle hunters, who set out at the early morning hours, can easily locate the surfacing ones.
Though truffles are seen in almost 30 varieties, with varied colour, flavour and fragrance, the common ones are the ‘Black’ and ‘White’. The truffle season in Kuwait starts in March with the highly priced local ‘Fagga’ harvest (almost 15 Kuwaiti Dinar per kilogram) across the Kuwaiti arid land. However, the domestic market receives ‘Fagga’ from Saudi, Egypt, Iran, Levant and Maghreb. The price tends to drop as they start arriving from various regions. Interestingly, the shopkeepers spotted at the temporary makeshift market in Shuwaikh, exclusive for ‘Fagga’, are mostly the natives of Iran.
Not being a predictable crop, nutritious desert truffles are highly in demand during the season, hereby making it a profitable cash crop for the local truffle collectors. They consider truffles as God’s gift to enhance their financial stability during the season. Desert truffles have to be consumed fresh. They are highly perishable stuff if affected by humidity and sunlight after harvest. It needs moisture to retain its fragrance and flavour. Truffles as such can neither be stored in plastic covers nor be kept in refrigerators. The best method evolved for short term storage is packing it with loose rice grains in air tight container which is big enough for spacing truffles. The speed at which the harvested truffles are brought to the market makes it even more costly.
Truffles are not meant for excessive cooking. A maximum of few minutes on flame, either immersed in milk or on ember/ashes, will be apt. Truffle soup in camel milk is a common seasonal luxury across Middle East. It is said that people used to dry and powder truffles in order to keep it for a long. This flavored ingredient in dough gives a pleasant aroma and nutritional value to the baked bread. The difficulty in cleaning the sand particles trapped inside the truffle usually ends up in the chances of having an occasional sandy bite.
This gifted kitchen diamond is known worldwide, from time immemorial, not only for its culinary charm but also for its medicinal value, especially in Middle East. Truffles served as the functional food in conventional medicine. It was effectively used in medical ailment both in prevention and cure, alike, especially in those related to eye and skin. Truffle juice is used for the allergic eye infections caused by sand storms and dusty environment which is common in Middle East. References can be seen in various articles published from Arabian world regarding the medicinal uses of truffles. The truffle peels dried for 10 days under sun is good for healing burns. It is a prefect treatment for chapped lips, weak and brittle finger and toe nails etc. The Sahrawi nomads of Western Sahara used it as ailment for cold, breathing issues and even arthritis. They use fresh truffle juice during season and saved dried truffle slices for the off season.
Traditional beliefs in this regard have been supported by many scientific researches. Rich in protein, fatty acids, minerals, carbohydrates and substances with powerful antioxidant activities, science supports its use as functional food for health care and prevention. The antimicrobial behaviors of the protein elements in truffle extracts were found exceptional compared to other standard reference antibiotics used during researches.
Each desert truffle contains lots of spores, which gets erupted and dispersed by wind, once it is dried. Chances of spore dispersal by the ‘fungivores’ also cannot be ruled out. This dispersal triggers its mysterious life cycle again. Though the cultivation of desert truffles is considered almost impossible, the effort for an effective farming is carried over worldwide.
As and when the truffle season begins, the Kuwait environment authority and researchers, starts creating awareness among the people regarding the importance and influence of desert truffles in the ecological balance. They emphasize the need to preserve it by avoiding early and untimely collection, in order to avoid a negative impact on the environment as well as the risk of truffle extinction. The Iraqi invasion had a long term impact on the existence of many native desert plants and truffles and studies say that it will take time for the soil to recover. It is our responsibility to preserve it from the danger of extinction which can happen due to early harvest.
The season of desert truffle is coming to an end with the approaching rough summer. Now it’s the time for truffle seeds to sleep, till the thunder strikes the ground and winter raindrops wake them up with its cool touch. Let us also join the prayers for the early rain and eagerly wait for the next harvest season.