A Portuguese chef who thinks everyone should have a chance at truffles and a University of Evora researcher have found a new treasure: edible truffles growing in Portugal that are, the chef says, are “better than Italy.”
Evora expert Celeste Santos e Silva and chef Tanka Sapkota have been working in partnership for two years looking for truffles in Portugal. The variety they have found is not previously known in Portugal, but is cultivated in Spain and is known in France and Italy.
Sapkota owns several restaurants in Lisbon where he prepares dishes meant to be “democratizing the truffle.”
They report that they are now finding it in commercial quantities and are working with landowners to grow the fungus as an additional crop. Truffles currently sell for over €100 per kilogram.
“Several people sent us several samples, but none were truffles” until April 26th, when they received another sample from the municipalities of Alenquer and Sobral de Monte Agraço, in the district of Lisbon, and the researchers were able to prove the existence of this truffle in Portugal.
