Can Germany's nascent truffle industry meet fine dining standards?

Truffle farmer Heiler with Balou, a truffle-hunting dog. Photos: Uli Deck/dpa

Balou wags his tail energetically as he zigzags around the small trees, nose to the ground. Suddenly, he starts digging like there’s no tomorrow.

He sends clods of earth flying into the air. Most people wouldn't know whether or not there were truffles among them, says Michael Heiler, who owns three truffle farms near the western German city of Karlsruhe.

Balou, a truffle-hunting dog, uses his nose to signal when he finds one.

Good boy, says Heiler, passing him a treat before the two continue their search.

Today’s yield isn’t bad: Balou, a golden retriever, locates several burgundy truffles within an hour and a half. The smallest is the size of a cherry pit, while the largest one probably weighs about 60g.

Heiler started growing truffles years ago, with just one plantation. He now has three, with a total of some 200 trees spread out across half a hectare of land.

Balou uses his nose to find truffles.

He put a great deal of energy into preparing the soil with lime, to create the ideal conditions for truffles to thrive.

There are about 20 truffle farmers in the southwest of Germany, according to Heiler.

Cultivating truffles is a very demanding business, he says. Nonetheless, the number of truffle farmers in Germany has been rising since 2014, an industry association says.

“We estimate the number of truffle farmers nationwide is currently between 250 and 350,” says spokesperson Markus Mayer.

In total, the group estimates that truffles are being grown on some 300ha to 400ha of land in total, nationwide.

However, yields are still low, he says, adding that there is not much data available. Germany’s Agriculture and Environment Ministries also don’t provide figures on the country’s fledgling truffle industry.

According to Silke Friedrich, who owns a nursery for truffle trees, the market in Germany – once an exporter of truffles – still needs to develop. While there's demand for the delicacy, she says, “most people continue to order from abroad because German plantations aren’t where they need to be yet”.

It takes seven to eight years until a new farm can harvest its truffles. That's a moment many of Germany’s farmers are still waiting for.

Ludger Sproll, who co-founded Germany’s first nursery for truffle trees, believes there’s definitely potential, saying the restaurant industry is really impressed.

As truffles lose about 5% of their taste and smell every day once they are harvested, growing them in Germany is a real advantage for regional producers, he says.

Nurseries specialising in truffle trees “inoculate” trees suitable as host trees, such as hazelnut or oak, with the truffle spores.

Then the truffle settles in the roots and, assuming conditions are favourable, enters into a lifelong symbiosis with the tree.

Sproll estimates there are around 1,000 sites in Germany where truffles grow wild, but harvesting and marketing them is prohibited. Exceptions are sometimes made for research purposes, according to the Environment Ministry.

In other countries, people can harvest wild truffles thanks to more generous licensing policies, but that is not a strategy the ministry is looking to adopt.

The German Society for Mycology (DGfM) also doesn’t support truffle-hunting for commercial purposes.

That makes truffle farms the only legal option in Germany. While Heiler says regional restaurants are very interested in the local produce, it remains unclear if they will ever make it into the top restaurants.

That should not be because of the taste, as according to Sproll, regional truffles do not differ from imported produce.

A top chef from Baden Wuerttemberg state who asked to remain anonymous says that isn't the case, however. The quality of home-grown truffles still doesn’t compare to truffles grown in Italy or France, he says.

Elisabeth Albrecht, a coach on Germany’s national chef association also hasn’t found a regional produce that matches the quality of the truffles grown in the neighbouring countries, she says.

Mayer remains optimistic. He says initially there was a lack of experience in Germany with home-grown truffles to be able to generally evaluate their quality.

“In 10 years' time, the fine dining sector may think very differently.” – dpa