Kalahari Truffles.
Kalaharituber Pfeilii – The gold of the desert.
Kalahari truffles are in season right now, and it’s your chance to buy some of these delicious goodies and discover their subtle, nutty, earthy taste.
I bought four chunky ones a few days ago in Melissas and they cost R38. That’s not bad when you consider that that made four hearty scrambled egg breakfasts.
Where a lot of them are found.
Kalahari truffles are not to be confused with their European cousins, which are far denser and more flavoured. They only grow in sandy soil, and they are named after the Kalahari region where they were first discovered by European settlers.
I’d describe the taste as being similar to a porcini mushroom. They are very nutritious, being extremely high in protein.
In fact that’s what they are; the underground fruit of a fungus, a subterranean mushroom. Dogs are used to locate them, as pigs, being pigs, would eat them.
The Khoi-Khoi bushmen have long had a tradition of hunting for them and eating them. They called them “t-nabba”, the “t” being a click sound found in todays
Truffle hunters.
Xhosa language. I think that describes them well, in an onomatopoeic sort of way.
Hyenas, baboons, bat eared foxes and meerkats also feast on them.
You can even buy small trees whose trees have been innoculated with the fungus and grow their own. They have a symbiotic relationship with tree roots, trapping moisture and making sure the tree has plenty of calcium.
How you eat them is up to you.
Some people bake them, leave them overnight, and consume them the next day as they believe the flavour intensifies like this.
Others, like me, just slice them and fry them with butter and garlic. They are delicious in scrambled eggs, and I have seen a soup recipe for them that looks great.
My advice is to treat them like a porcini mushroom, and cook them in a similar fashion.
Posted in 
Good to see that John and Lynne Ford from The Main Ingredient are selling these little beauties at The Neighbourgoods Market on Saturday mornings.
Everything sells out fast, but of you phone them on 021 439 3169 or 083 229 1172 I am sure they’ll keep a few aside for you.
hi there,
im looking to stock them in my delicatessen shop in pretoria “Proe”. was wondering if you know where i could by them from?
Try the Main Ingredient people. I am sure they will freight up a delivery or point you in the right direction in Pretoria.
I am sell them.
Hi here in the kavango region in Namibia the season just started in MAY they call them Mafumpula (the same Terfesia sp) ALL locals tell me i must first boil them before cooking and not just fry them like other mushrooms, otherwise i would have terrible stomac cramps…..(traditionnaly they are just boiled in salt water than eaten whole)
Next question is about how to preserve them best to serve them outside the short season
so i plan to use them in our african local specialized restaurant, but i tried last year boiling and than deep freezing, did not work at all they turned sour after defreeze, now if i would just deep fryze and than fried it would work …but again the local people warm me not to just fry…why is that…in your recepies you just fry and or bake ?
Patrick,
I just fry them in butter and olive oil, with a sprinkle of salt, pepper and slivrs of garlic. Deelishus.
I have never tried freezing them, or using frozen, I just buy fresh when I can get them.
I can supply large quantities. Looking for bulk buyers.
Fry them in butter, and then freeze. Keeps for ages.
Ola Vic
Please let me know how much per kg, how many kgs?
chef_heini@yahoo.com.
Hi Vic, You can reply to Heini at; chef_heini@yahoo.com
Hello Vic, please send me prices at j.kritzinger@hotmail.com. I need bulk for Garth Stroebel at South African Chefs Academy in Cape Town. Thanks!
What is the best way to prepare kalahari truffles for eating?
Thanks,
Carmen
I fry it in butter with some garlic.
Hi Claire
My good friend Urs Gamma (owner/chef at Restaurant Gatheman, the finest in Windhoek and all Namibia)sent me my annual ration of //nabba, received today. We only ever nibble modest quantities at a time (so no belly ache), slithered and quick fried in olive oil with fresh sage and black pepper and tossed with home made pasta – nothing finer – drink a good viognier or pinot noir to complete the experience. To store: try scrubbing or peeling off sand, slicing and storing in a consol jar covered with olive oil.
Another recipe: clean and slice //nabbas into thickish discs, quick fry with herb of choice, even a little chilli, deglaze with vodka (make mine a Primitiv)and throw in a small carton of cream – simmer till thickened, season and serve as THE sauce on rare roasted fillet of gemsbok/springbok/beef. Now the wine is cab or syrah!
Nice one Roger, esp the vodka deglaze. Primitiv has just that right vegetal tone for a great sauce to go with the truffles. To drink? Why not a few chilled Primitivs, with beer in between?
Saw a lovely mushroom hunters knife today. Think I’ll do a piece on it tomorrow.
It’s the ultimate in foraging tools.
It has a little handle and a hooked blade at one end, and a brush at the other, so that you can brush off the sand or dirt.
Hello Claire
When exactly the season start?
I need Kalahari Truffles in big quantity
Thank you
fruitsstoreexport@yahoo.com
About now, I think.