There's only one thing that TV celebrity chef Antonio Carluccio, a champion of regional Italian food, loves more than wild mushrooms - and that's truffles.

He is not alone in his passion for this rather odd subterranean delicacy.

There is something about the nature of truffles that has captivated food lovers since Roman times.

Perhaps it is linked to the irresistible earthy aroma. Whatever it is, truffles are now big business.

Very big business.

Only last December, the largest white truffle unearthed in 50 years fetched a record £160,000 at auction. This knobbly, soil-encrusted 1.5kilo white tuber magnatum pico was finally claimed by Hong Kong billionaire Stanley Ho, one of Asia's richest men. It had been sniffed out by a mongrel dog in the woods of Tuscany and caused a worldwide stir.
Bidding was linked by satellite between Macau, Florence and London and bidders included artist Damien Hirst, who bowed out at £65,000.
You don’t however have to be a millionaire before you can treat yourself to a taste of truffles. Fresh black summer truffles between 20grams and 80 grams each cost about £162 per kilo, and an alternative to fresh truffles is to buy a 50gram jar of whole black summer truffles in water and salt for just under a tenner.

What exactly is a truffle? Well, it’s an underground fungus with a fleshy edible fruiting body. And because of its subterranean existence, pigs and dogs are best suited and the most talented at sniffing them out.

The Italian composer Rossini called it “the Mozart of mushrooms” and Lord Byron kept one on his desk because he believed it fed his imagination. More recently the American comedian Dennis Miller wisecracked: “The only way the French are going into Iraq is if we tell them we’ve found truffles there…”

There’s only one big problem with fresh truffles. They have to be eaten within 20 days of being unearthed, and this has not always been appreciated. In 2004, a 700gram truffle sold for £28,000...only to go mouldy in the safe of a London restaurant.

Chefs experienced in cooking Italy's rare white truffle say the secret is to keep it simple. Rodolfo Mencarelli, master chef and owner of the Taverna del Lupo, in Gubbio, Umbria, agrees. Mind you, the eight-page menu in his medieval restaurant offers truffles on veal, pheasant, breast of duck, salmon, young bull and lamb - and even on finely-shaved raw beef with pine nuts and Parmesan cheese.

Like Antonio Carluccio, he thinks they’re a bit special…