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In Pictures: Braving wolves, landmines, Iraqis hunt for truffles

Iraqi families hunt for truffles, despite harsh conditions and multiple dangers in the southern desert.

Truffles found in the desert in Samawa, Iraq. [Alaa Al-Marjani/REUTERS]
Published On 17 Mar 202117 Mar 2021
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“Here it is, the truffle, a blessing from God!” Zahra Buheir carefully digs out a desert truffle from the sandy earth and shows it off between her calloused fingers.

“Rain came, and then thunder, bringing truffles up to the surface,” the 72-year-old said.

Braving the harsh weather of Iraq’s southern desert, as well as left-behind land mines, Buheir and her family of seven have spent weeks hunting for the seasonal truffles that have provided them with an income for generations.

Fetching its hunters up to $7 a kilo this year, Iraq’s desert truffle is cheaper than its rarer European cousins that can cost hundreds of dollars or more a kilo.

But with Iraq’s economy in crisis, the local variety is a big help to Buheir and her family.

This year the rain came late and Buheir could only find about a kilo of truffles a day, one-tenth of what she would dig up in a good year.

Turning over stones and poking the earth with her bare hands, Buheir’s granddaughter, five-year-old Riyam, accompanied her parents to learn a trade and the desert lifestyle.

“When there is no work, truffles are a source of income. And we are happy here,” said Riyam’s father, Mohsen Farhan, who cherishes the weeks he spends with his family in their tent in the desert.

Learning to hunt for truffles these days also involves understanding the desert’s dangers.

“We are afraid of wolves, there are a lot here. And there are mines. A while ago, someone died,” Farhan said.

Remnants from the Gulf War in 1991, unexploded devices beneath the earth could be mistaken for truffles by the inexperienced eye.

Every few days, Hussein Abu Ali, drives into the desert from the city of Samawa to take the truffles to market.

There, Ali Tajj al-Din sells them at auction, each with a different name according to size.

“These are walnuts, eggs, oranges, and here is the pomegranate, the biggest one,” he said.

This year, scarcity has pushed up prices and truffles that do not sell locally are exported to wealthier Gulf countries.

But customers at Samawa’s “Beit al-Hatab” restaurant relish its weekly truffle speciality.

“We fry or grill them, but the favourite dish is truffles on rice,” said restaurant owner Fawwaz Hatab.

A truffle-seller sits at a market in the city of Samawa, 240km (148 miles) south of the capital, Baghdad. [Alaa Al-Marjani/REUTERS]
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Ra'ad Abdelemir, a trader, sorts truffles in a tent at the market in Samawa. [Alaa Al-Marjani/REUTERS]
A worker cooks a meal with truffles at the Beit al-Hatab restaurant in the city of Samawa. [Alaa Al-Marjani/REUTERS]
Zahra Buheir, 72, a truffle hunter, makes bread in front of her tent in the desert in Samawa. "Rain came, and then thunder, bringing truffles up to the surface." [Alaa Al-Marjani/REUTERS]
Women search for truffles in the desert. Learning to hunt for truffles these days also involves understanding the desert's dangers. [Alaa Al-Marjani/REUTERS]
A woman extracts truffles from the soil. This year, scarcity has pushed up prices. [Alaa Al-Marjani/REUTERS]
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Women search for truffles in the desert. Fetching its hunters up to $7 a kilo this year. Iraq's desert truffle is cheaper than its rarer European cousins that can cost hundreds of dollars or more a kilo. [Alaa Al-Marjani/REUTERS]
Zahra Buheir smokes a cigarette in the desert in Samawa. "Here it is, the truffle, a blessing from God!" said Zahra. [Alaa Al-Marjani/REUTERS]
Abu Jakka Farhan, a truffle hunter, relaxes in front of his tent in the desert in Samawa. "We are afraid of wolves, there are a lot here. And there are mines. A while ago, someone died," Farhan said. [Alaa Al-Marjani/REUTERS]


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