The History of Desert Truffle Use

Abstract

The first evidence of the use of desert truffles (hypogeous Ascomycetes), which have nourished populations in the world’s arid and semiarid areas throughout history, is found among the oldest records of human culture. Desert truffles were coveted by the Bronze Age Amorites, mentioned in the Bible, and discussed by the Classic Greeks, Romans, and in the Jewish Talmud. Islam’s Prophet Muhammad recommended their medicinal use. The vernacular terms for desert truffles have changed little through the millennia, suggesting a common desert truffle culture. Travelers throughout history have recorded the culinary, medicinal, and artistic uses of desert truffles among the local communities they passed through, observing that desert truffles have often been a survival food for these communities. The desert truffles with the longest record of use are the species of Tirmania and Terfezia. The people with the longest recorded use of desert truffles are the Bedouins. The Khoisan of the Kalahari and the Aborigines of Australia have also had a long, yet mostly unrecorded, history of desert truffle use. These three different cultures show similarities in their cooking techniques and medicinal uses of desert truffles. Efforts to cultivate them in their growing habitats may slow down the demise of desert truffles in the wild, offer local economic incentives, and protect the desert truffle culture among indigenous peoples. This chapter will attempt to offer a glimpse into the long and rich history of the use of desert truffles among the different populations that have gathered them and depended on them throughout history.