Mary Talks Money Episodes
Truffles: A Gourmet Ingredient
If you are looking to add a gourmet touch to your next meal, try truffles.
"If you're a foodie and you're really into, you know, whipping together a gourmet meal at home for family and friends, truffles is something that should absolutely be on your ingredient list," said Shaun Richards, Wegmans Supermarket.
The mushrooms are in high demand but not that many are harvested yearly.
"Many believe it has some attributes that cause it to be such a sought after item, both therapeutic and medicinal, so I think there are a lot of folks out there who are looking for the truffle. There's only two million harvests each year so we're kind of limited as to how often we're able to get them, so that's why you'll see such a high price tag on many of these truffles," said Richards.
Wegmans Supermarket in suburban Philadelphia sells truffles for $999.99 a pound.
"The funny thing with that is, that really should retail for much higher than that. We're probably looking at closer to a $1,400 retail that should be sold at, but in our pricing system, we're only able to go up to that $999.99 mark," said Richards.
The supermarket makes sure the delicate mushroom is store properly to maintain freshness.
"We store it in rice in store. And what this does is it just keeps the integrity of the truffle and maintains some of the moisture," said Richards.
Richards says you don't have to buy a whole pound -- you can buy a single truffle, which may run you about $10 or $20, depending on weight.
