It was about four years ago, that plant pathologist Paul Thomas appeared before the panel and requested funding for a truffle farm. A truffle farm that would bring to bear the full weight of scientific knowledge and progress on the matter of growing the valuable and mysterious underground fruit bodies known as truffles. This coming year, after five years of effort, he and the rest of the truffle-loving world will see if it has worked.

It could be a storming year. He’s expecting his summer truffle trees to yield between 70kg and 230kg a hectare and sell for around €280 (£249) per kilo (the current price is €400 per kilo but this varies during the year). The more delicate black truffles have a lower yield but sell for four to five times that price. “People have been growing truffles in the UK for close to 40 years. What we have done is bring the technology up to date, making it more reliable,” says Thomas.

Good luck to you Dr. Thomas. Send me a truffle. See Dragons’ Den truffle grower hopes to unearth profit after five years’ cultivation by Richard Tyler.

A 250g truffle (David Monniaux/Wiki Commons)