Desert Truffles Tirmania nivea in the Emirates

Desert Truffles Tirmania nivea in the Emirates

Truffles were a mystery to the ancient world of the Greeks and Romans but this did not prevent their culinary enjoyment and a knowledge of several varieties from various locations (1). The north African provinces were famous for their white truffles, called terfez. This name was adopted as the scientific name for a family of underground fungi, loosely classified as truffles. They are distributed around the Mediterranean and Middle East and have some structural differences to the true truffles of Europe, Tuber spp.

Most historical accounts invest them with significant value as a food item for the native populations. As with other fungi, it is the fruit body of the plant which is harvested and consumed.

I first encountered desert truffles in Kuwait in the early 1980s. The local name is fugaa (Tirmania nivea) (2). On a subsequent posting to Iraq, I encountered them for sale in Baghdad in the autumn; the Iraqi name is kamaa, kima or chima in some local dialects. They were a seasonal luxury food in Iraq (3) and were peeled and either boiled or sauteed. Samples consumed in Kuwait were a culinary disappointment, having little flavour and a gritty texture due to sand inclusions in the fruit body.

These fungi develop underground in the desert. They are usually found in close proximity to members of the Cistaceae family (4), Helianthemum lippii, H. salicifolium and H. ledifolium with which they appear to have a symbiotic relationship. Gatherers rely on memory and experience of the lie of the land, hollows being a common habitat. An additional help is the fact that the growth of the fungal fruit body often causes the ground surface to crack.

Desert truffles, fugaa, faqah, fig-aa or zubadee are also found in the UAE. These subterranean mushrooms belong to the Terfezia (5) species and live principally in symbiosis with Helianthemum lippii (6), as in Kuwait. They are not true truffles, but are still a popular traditional food, sought by nationals after early rains. The one recipe available is highly flavoured and spiced, similar to published Omani recipes. Sizes up to 10 cm. in diameter (oblate) are quoted.

The first fresh truffles I found in Al Ain in 1997 were imported from Tunisia, whence the Romans obtained their supplies. These were 3-6 cm. in size, pale creamy white darkening with storage. They had an irregular knobbly shape, were quite dense and had a slight mushroom aroma. There was a stronger fungal aroma on cutting them open and they had no appreciable skin. The flesh was of medium density and smooth, white with slightly darker glands and some pinhole voids.

A year later, at the end of January 1998, I saw truffles in the Al Ain souq, said to be from Oman. They were selling for 50 Dh/Kg which proved to be a typical price. Only one trader had them and even with the reduced clientele due to Ramadan they sold quickly. They were quite firm and similar in main features to the Tunisian and Kuwaiti samples.

A friend reported Pathans combing the desert areas near Jebel Ali on the coast, harvesting something he could not recognise and selling them in bags by the roadside for 200 Dirhams. His description identified them as truffles, in good supply that year. In February and March 1998 they were in scarce but regular supply in the Al Ain souq on my Friday visits. In contrast after a very dry winter in 1999 I had only one sighting in the market and they were almost certainly from Oman where they had had more rain.

On 27 February 1998 I purchased a kilo. There were 18 truffles, cream to pale brown in colour, roughly spherical and 5-8 cm. across. They were quite dense, only just floating in water as they were washed and scrubbed to remove mud and sand. Some had a definite stalk attachment and they appeared to have bruised to varying degrees due to harvesting and handling. Some were frozen fresh as an experiment. The majority were peeled of skin, damage and any potentially sandy folds, cut into cubes and soaked for half an hour. The flesh was creamy-white, uniform in some, marbled and veined in beige in others, probably representing different stages of development.

They were cooked in a simplified version of kumba muqashad, an Omani recipe (7), and served up to dinner guests as a surprise dish. They were quite a revelation. There was no evidence of sand or grit, the texture was smooth and they had a good fungal flavour. Voted a very acceptable food. I can appreciate the appeal of this traditional and local foodstuff.

The frozen specimens were made into an Emirati dish called saloona or laham murraq (9). They were not adversely affected by freezing and after peeling and washing were briefly boiled. They had a intense fungal flavour and a soft texture. The dish is a simple lamb stew with spices and after cooking on a low heat for ninety minutes the fugaa had taken on a red-brown colour throughout the flesh and had a strong and attractive meaty fungal flavour, presumably absorbed from the meat and fresh meat stock in the dish.

Local folklore relates that the growth of the fugaa is initiated by thunder and lightning, evidence of the association of truffle growth and rain. Whilst the white and brown specimens are considered good eating, for instance fried in oil, any coloured specimens are viewed as being poisonous. The fungi also occur in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and are eaten in both countries.