Truffles

A few quick facts:

Truffle: a word which describes a group of edible mycorrhizal (symbiotic relationship between fungus and plant) fungi (genus Tuber, class Ascomycetes, division Ascomycota). The ascoma (fruiting body) of truffles is highly prized as food. It has a smell similar to deep-fried sunflower seeds or walnuts, though not all people are able to catch the smell of this mushroom. (http://www.rawfoodunderground.com/glossary.html)

Tuber Melanosporum "Black Truffle": The only variety of truffle that is recognized as "truffle" for commercial purposes. (Other truffles, such as white truffles, exist, but are much less expensive and don't have the same culinary uses)

Found: Underground or near the roots of trees in France (south-west), Spain and Australia. No method of laboratory or other cultivation has been found.

Season: Some start in November, but the best truffles are found starting in January and February. Season ends in February, or sometimes in March.

Method of finding truffles: Pig (but you have to carry a stick to hit the pig with because the pig will eat the truffle!), Dog (Can be trained for the scent and does not eat it the truffle), or flies (on a very calm (non windy) day, flies will congregate over the truffle, but be careful because they sometimes lay their eggs in the truffle!!)

Quantity found: The quantity of truffles found in the world has greatly gone down...about a century ago, there were 1,000 tons of truffles extracted yearly, now only 15 tons. Now, given 1 hectare (about 2.5 acres) of land in 20 years you can find many 2 kilograms of truffle.

Price? - If you ask, you can't afford it.... about 1,000 Euros for a kilogram

But...(as with so many things nowadays)..there are Chinese knock-offs! The Chinese "black truffles" are similar, but they are not as "vein-y" (see picture below) and do not have the signature truffle aroma. Problem is that if you place fake truffles (or really many other things) next to a truffle, they will absorb the smell...so its becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish fake from real. (Chinese truffles go for 30 Euro per kilogram)

Voila. There went a short description of this crazy tuber. We had a "Truffle Conference and Demonstration" so in addition to an informative discussion about truffles with a distributer for Pebeyre (major truffle company), Pebeyre donated probably about 1/2 kilogram of truffle for the class from which Chef Roland Durand (chef at Restaurant le Passiflore * Michelin) made Scallops with truffle and Potato and leek curry with truffle. I think I probably ate about $2-5 in truffle today...

The dishes were good, but as I mentioned in another post, I don't think that truffles are worth their price. The consistency is very interesting (crumbles into pretty tough pieces in your mouth, maybe how it would be if you had lots of sesame seeds), the smell is fascinating (very earthy, but in a good way), but the taste is pretty "blah". The curry in the potato and leek curry completely overpowered any of the truffle flavor. And it is only because there was a pretty sizable shaving in the scallops with truffle could I really taste the truffle.

Here is a picture of me with truffle and different views of the truffle as well as the scallops which the Chef cooked:

(This size truffle probably costs ~120 Euros)

(Maximize this image to see the veins in the truffle)

(Maximize this image to see why its probably easy for people to confuse this very rare and expensive tuber with something that is much more common and something that people try to avoid when walking on the street!)

YUMMY.

In response to a comment from my last post, here is a good website that describes how to tell how well-done beef is by touch: Is My Steak Done Yet?

Cheers!

Daria