Sunday, March 19, 2006

Fahga (Truffles)


The Northeastern area of Saudi Arabia is the number #1 prime location for growing fahga. I went looking for it in the markets in Hafr Al-Batin and couldn't find any. So I called my friend Fahad Al-Sahli and he told me to quit looking and he would bring me some to work in the morning. I told him I was wanting a kilo so I could share with my friends and that I would pay him. True to his word, he brought a kilo the next morning and would not accept any money for it. According to the paper the going rate is 200-250 SAR ($50-$70 USD) per kilo.

I shared with some of the guys and I scoured the interent for recipes and kept coming up with fancy French methods. I talked to some friends and they gave me guidance from "cook it like a potato" to " cook it like a piece of meat". I ended up cooking it with pasta and a bit of garlic, with pasta and a spaghetti-type sauce and with a tomatoe, onion and pepper sauce. It gives the food a smoky-earthy flavor not at all like any mushroom I have tasted. All were equally good and I will try it again next year.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

deffinatly send that recipe home!!

Kurtis said...

I forgot to mention you can sometimes taste the grit from sand in the fahga.

Kurtis said...

..and you can probably spell it fahga or fagha but it is pronounced "faw guh"

Anonymous said...

paragliding sounds fun!