One of my fondest memories of Kalahari truffles was a few years back when, on the way to a wedding in the Omaheke, we stopped on the roadside for an impromptu truffle picnic.
Driving along, we had noticed some women and children on the side of the road scouring the sand and stopped to ask what they were looking for. Eyes gleaming and with wide smiles, they told us they were looking for !nabas - Kalahari truffles - and were happy to show us how.
We followed the two women as they used their sticks to point out cracks in the earth, sure signs that truffles were hiding underneath. They gently dug around the tell-tale signs until a sand-caked truffle was unearthed. This was displayed proudly like a precious jewel for us to view, before being added to the treasure that was being carefully carried in the folds of a blouse.
The group was happy to sell us their ‘veldkos’ fare and continued searching for underground treasure, waving as we drove off. Finding a good picnic spot, we pulled off from the road deciding it was perfect timing for lunch and took out our gas cooker, frying pan, onions and butter to get the meal underway in true ‘padlangs’ fashion. The onions sizzled as we washed off the earth from the truffles, cut them into slices and added them to the pan. Delicious aromas rose into the air. Soon we had our chairs and table out of the vehicle and were scooping up the fried !nabas with thick slices of bread – and, of course, toasting life with sips of slow-brewed Namibian beer. It was one of the most delicious picnics to be had. The sun shone in the vast blue sky above and around us the long, bleached grass danced in the breeze. Life was good.
Kalahari truffles, commonly known by their Nama name ‘!nabas’ (also spelled ‘IIhabas’), appear in the Kalahari sands of the Northern Cape, eastern and north-eastern Namibia and Botswana after a season of abundant rainfall. They are called ‘the eggs of the lightning bird’ by the San of the Kalahari as they often appear after a thunderstorm. Upington holds a !Naba Festival every September, a celebration of the food and wine of the Northern Cape. The desert truffles are also found in semi-arid areas of the world including the Arabian Peninsula, the Mediterranean basin, North Africa and Australia. They are said to have been eaten at the feasts of pharaohs in times gone by. Like most other ‘veldkos’ (food from the field), dependent on the weather and seasons, the emergence of the !nabas is never guaranteed. You may be surprised to hear that Africa has its very own truffles, but although they have a nutty-mushroom taste, it is much more subdued than that of the more flavoursome truffles of the northern hemisphere, which fetch hefty prices.
The !nabas are sold along the roadside in the extreme north and north-east of the country, as well as in the east. They can be found as far afield as Ondangwa and Divundu, where they are called ‘omatumbura’ and ‘mavumbura’. A small bowl of truffles goes for as little as N$20, fetching a much lower price than in the city where a kilo can cost N$80 to N$150. Namibians countrywide enjoy the rich feast from the earth.
The Kalahari truffle (Kalaharituber pfeilii) is smooth like a potato. A hypogeous fungus, it has its fruitbody growing below the ground. The edible fungus forms a symbiotic relationship with the roots of several plant species, most commonly the tsamma melon. The ripe fruit dries and shrivels as it is exposed to the sun, releasing minute spores. These are distributed by the wind, remaining dormant in years of drought. In years of good summer rainfall, however, they grow abundantly underground, ready to be harvested in the autumn.
!Nabas can be eaten raw or cooked in a variety of ways: boiled, buried in hot ash or searing sand, roasted over the fire or fried with onions and seasoned with salt and pepper.
A treasured desert fungus, it is one of Namibia’s wild and delicious veldkos delicacies.
I’ll always remember our Kalahari picnic in the Omaheke as one of the best.