Franklin Garland has a brand new bag, of truffles that is. In 1978, he came across an article in the Wall Street Journal about truffle growers in France, and soon decided to venture to Europe to learn more about the clumps of fungus that are prized among gourmet chefs. A year later, Garland became one of the first people in the United States to try growing tuffles when he planted 750 innoculated trees on his farm in Hillsborough. A mere twelve years later, he harvested his first truffles.

Truffles are an epicurean’s delight, having a nutty, earthy aroma much like a mushroom. They have a dense, almost crunchy texture. Their flavor is delicate yet pervasive — less than one half ounce can flavor a pound of butter.

Known scientifically as tuber melanosporum, truffles grow on the roots of trees such as oaks, hazlenut, and filberts. They were traditionally collected in Southern Europe using pigs to sniff them out, but since the 19th century they have been successfully domesticated. Today most people use specially trained dogs which have no appetite for truffles.

Conditions in North Carolina are perfect for raising truffles; and today the state is home to more than 60 truffle farms. A pound of black Perigord truffles goes for about $800, so it can be quite lucrative should a farmer master the art of growing truffles. But it’s not a quick venture — it takes at least five years before a tree yields a single truffle, if at all.

Anthony Williams