:salamext:
Allah would send down food to Musa's people in the form of manna and salwa.
The Prophet (salla Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said,
"Kam'ah (truffles) is a type of manna, and its liquid is a remedy for the eyes." [Bukhari]
Kam'ah are desert truffles found in the Middle East. They are a fungus that grow underground, resembling small potatoes in appearance. Nobody can cultivate desert truffles. They grow wild, without roots, stem, fiber, branch, bud, leaf, or flower. They are hard to find (they are buried underground!) and are extremely rare. Therefore they are also extremely expensive, sometimes costing around $100 or more per kilo, and have been considered to be a delicacy since the time of the pharoahs (i.e. Musa's time!) until now. In fact, there are papyrus writings that tell of the pharoah being served truffles.
Imagine, Bani Israel was being fed the food of kings - the very food of their former masters! In fact, manna was better than the desert truffles of earth. They were eating the pure, sweet truffles of heaven! It was such a big deal for the pharoah to eat truffles that papyrus writings recorded it, but Bani Israel was getting this rare delicacy every single day! And they didn't have to dig around looking for them. Manna would descend upon them like snow falling every morning.
Desert truffles are believed to be spawned by lightning from the heavens (lightning triggers a chemical reaction that makes the accompanying rain rich in nitrogen compounds, which in turn seem to prompt the truffles to grow). Similarly, the manna that Bani Israel was blessed with would descend from the heavens.
Truffles spoil extremely quickly in a matter of days. Manna would spoil even quicker. According to Tafseer Ibn Katheer, Bani Israel could only gather a day's worth of manna at a time - anything left over would spoil. The only exception was on Friday, where they would gather enough for that day and the next, because Saturday was their sabbath when they weren't allowed to work or seek anything.
Truffles are said to give off a perfume and have a variety of tastes, being similar to meat, mushrooms, or nuts, depending on the type of truffle you eat. Usually, they are black on the outside and cream or pink on the inside. The more expensive and tasty kind are cream colored on the outside. Qatadah said the manna that Bani Israel was given was whiter than milk and sweeter than honey. Manna, like truffles, were very nutritious and could be mixed with water to make a sweet drink.
Subhana Allah, such a blessing was descending on Bani Israel in such a miraculous way! It truly was reason to give thanks to Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Pictures of Manna Truffle
http://ilforno.typepad.com/photos/un.../ntruffles.jpg
:wasalamex