Sunday, August 17, 2008
Food

The truffle shuffle

North Carolina resident Susan Rice forages for shrooms

By Hope S. Philbrick

Staking nearly $25 million in North Carolina farmland, entrepreneur Susan Rice founded Black Diamond French Truffles Inc. in 2007. Poised to become the largest truffle orchard in the United States, the company will develop 200 acres over the next two years and will eventually grow, harvest, package and sell Black Perigord truffles to wholesale markets and to retail customers. Truffles, one of the world’s most expensive foods, are fungi prized by top chefs across the globe. Specifically, truffles are underground mushrooms. The Sunday Paper quizzed Susan Rice about her plans and vision.

Q What’s your background?
A I’ve always been an entrepreneur at heart and have done so many different things, including marketing and Real Estate investment. What happened was, I bought a piece of farm property from an elderly woman who made me promise not to turn it into a development. It’s a place she and her husband had shared with a beautiful lake on it. I fell in love with it and promised her that I wouldn’t develop it. I ended up accumulating property around it from other elderly farmers who wanted the land undeveloped, and it just fell together. As far as truffle farming, I was thinking about what I could do to preserve this land since I’d promised I wouldn’t do construction. I told a friend that I was going to farm it. He laughed and said, “You’re not a farmer!” I said I’d farm truffles. That was the start of it, four years ago. I think he made the point that truffles only grow in Europe, but I love truffles and could get them only at Christmas and thought it would be so awesome to have a whole field of truffles. I started investigating and found there are several truffle experts in the United States, lots of hobbyists, and my land was in an area where the spores could grow—it had the climate, the soil, a lot of irrigation even during the drought. I have 300 acres total and thought I’d try 10. The more I got into it, the more I was encouraged to make it a commercial venture, so decided to plant 200 acres with hazelnut and oak trees to be the hosts for these truffles. Trees will be put into place over the next two years; 10 acres are planted now. It takes awhile clearing the land, prepping it—we need to raise the ph levels from 4.5 to 8.0. We’re getting other farmers involved. It’s very exciting.

Do truffles grow naturally in the United States?
They do, but this truffle is native to Europe. We’re bringing it over, so ours has the same DNA as the Black Diamond French Truffles, the second most sought-after truffles in the world. First is the white Italian truffle, which grows in an area with a very different soil. Truffles in Oregon go for about $100 a pound. These can go for as much as $1,500 a pound. Conservatively, we expect to yield nearly $40,000 per acre. The trees will produce for 80 years. Every year, harvest is November to March and is done using dogs.

Can North Carolina compete with Italy and France in the truffle market?
Yes. We’ve already had people coming in from all over the world to see what we’re doing. I think there’s such a scarcity of truffles right now because in Europe the supplies are depleting every year. France is having a drought and doesn’t have any irrigation—if it’s dry, you don’t grow truffles. Also, France is having a problem with competing fungus taking over roots; by raising the pH, we won’t have that issue. When I was in France and Italy, I found they love that we’re doing this. Their culture is all about the truffle. They have passion for it and don’t care where it’s growing as long as people use it the same way and have the same respect for it that they do. Everybody’s tried to help out and be a part of what we’re doing. Chefs are so excited.

I’ve been importing truffles and making truffle sandwiches. Americans aren’t aware exactly what a truffle is; they think it’s a piece of chocolate. I’m trying to educate people, show them how to use truffle oils and butters. It’s an affordable and delicious way to have a part of something that costs $1,500 a pound. SP
For more information, visit www.bdft.com.