You Simply Have to Have Them

The price of white truffles borders on the sort of lunacy normally reserved for Beluga caviar and en primeur Bordeaux. This year’s [2015] much-improved price, down £1,000 on last year, is still around £1,800 per kilo. Five years ago we paid half that and still thought it ridiculous: there is, of course, a point at which one no longer feels the pain but makes an impulsive decision either that no food can be worth such a ridiculous amount of money, or that it simply does not matter because you just have to have them. Despite probably making a loss every time I shave a white truffle, I fear I am still in the latter category and, in a year like this, I have to have my truffles. Apart from the sheer pleasure of the aroma, a pleasure that the cook can share on equal terms with the diner, truffles tend to stimulate the creative juices.