Angela Hartnett to forego profit on truffles as price of world's most expensive fungus soars

Gordon Ramsey's former protégé says she would rather 'be generous with them than be stingy'

Michelin stared chef Angela Hartnett, (Getty )

A chef is forgoing any mark-up on the truffles she adds to dishes at her Mayfair restaurant due to the soaring cost.

The price of the world’s most expensive fungus has rocketed in the last two years – and by 67 per cent since last year alone – and is now sold at around £800 a pound.

This has led Angela Hartnett, owner of Michelin-starred Murano to sell truffle at cost price.

“I’d much rather charge the money that covers the cost of the truffles and then people enjoy them, and be generous with them, than be stingy,” said the former protégé of Gordon Ramsay to Bloomberg. “It’s about celebrating the dish, not trying to make cash from it.”

The fungus, which grow in the foothills of the Italian Alps, are only available for a few months each year. But unusually dry weather in Italy this year led to a smaller harvest and made the delicacy even more difficult to come by. Maximum prices for medium-to-large truffles are €2,500 (£1,752) a kilogram, compared with €1,500 (£1,051) last year.