What is truffle

So you got a black truffle, but what's the best way to keep it fresh? Notarnicola says truffles black or white are best stored refrigerated, individually wrapped in a clean paper towel, and inside of an airtight container. You might see some guides saying to store in rice the dry rice grains wick the moisture from the truffles , but don't do this unless you are trying to infuse the truffle flavor into the rice.

Notarnicola says truffles can be served with almost anything. But the interesting thing about truffle mushrooms is that they lose their aroma as they're warmed. White truffle is great sliced raw on top of risotto or steak. For an easy truffle recipe to get started, you can make the delicious black truffle pasta I mentioned earlier. It's got a simple creamy sauce made with truffle butter and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese that really brings out the truffle's natural flavors.

These truffle products use either a small amount of truffle or are infused with a natural essence of truffle to achieve the flavor profile, which keeps the cost low. By Katlyn Moncada July 07, What is a white truffle? Is it true that truffles look like poop? Are they safe? Are they being hidden away from us in order to keep the prices high? Why do they taste so freaking good?!!! Not to be confused with fancy bite-sized chocolates of the same name, savoury truffles are subterranean fungi grown in calcareous soils near the roots of broadleaved trees such as oak or hazelnut.

Because of its spore-bearing body, the truffle is basically considered a form of mushroom. However, there are some important differences between these two respective groups. Namely, truffles grow underground while mushrooms typically grow above ground. For the sake of simplicity, most folks consider truffles to be a form of mushroom because both truffles and mushrooms are fungi with fruiting bodies.

The fruiting body, by the way, is the part of the fungus that reproduces spores. On a typical mushroom, for instance, the part that crops up is the actual mushroom i. Step one is to inject special fungi spores into oak or hazelnut trees when the trees are just seedlings, with each tree being a good distance from the next one.

As the trees grow, the truffles likewise grow underground by attaching themselves to the tree roots. All the while, the truffles and host trees experience a symbiotic relationship, during which the truffles help the tree get nourishing phosphorous from the soil while the tree roots feed glucose to the growing truffles. When it comes time to harvest, farmers use specially trained dogs or pigs to sniff out the distinct truffle aromas. This occurs when animals dig up truffles and then poop out the spores, spreading them into other areas.

Nowadays, however, a human will usually dig up the truffle before an animal can enjoy it. Whereas Australia was harvesting about one kilogram of truffles back in , that number is now hovering around 20, kilograms. The town of Manjimup—located at the southern end of Western Australia—is also a hotbed for truffle production. Over in New Zealand, the majority of farms are in the North Canterbury region.

While a variety of truffle species exist, most folks are familiar with the general categories of black truffles and white truffles.

Black truffles tend to have rough and somewhat granular exteriors, resembling solid clumps of dirt or even lumpy poop depending on who you ask. Their insides are far more fetching by comparison, looking almost like wagyu beef. White truffles, meanwhile, tend to resemble a rough-skinned potato on the outside.

On the inside, they exhibit the kind of marbled mushroom quality that you find in black truffles, albeit in a slightly different form. Black truffles give off a pungent aroma and usually taste better when cooked. The flavour is often described as being nutty, earthy, woody, mushroomy, and even a little chocolatey.

Acqualagna, in the northern part of Le Marche, Italy, hosts an annual truffle festival where rows of stalls line the market square all selling whole truffles and truffle-related products. The whole town smells incredible. Well worth a visit. The taste is not dissimilar to white but their perfume is less intense and musky, so you may find them more versatile in cooking. Black summer truffles pop up in supermarkets, now at an affordable price as they grow across Europe.

But if you can, try to search out jars of minced black truffles in oil instead. An affordable way to enjoy truffles — particularly white truffle — is in oil. Buy the best quality you can afford even in a tiny bottle, as a little goes a long way. Look out for ones that are made with white truffles and not artificially flavoured or blended.

Pastes made from parmesan cheese, cream and white truffle are also very useful for giving a punch of truffle flavour to sauces and risottos. Truffles don't last longer than 7 to 10 days. Truffles can be cooked, but are usually cleaned by hand and grated or sliced paper-thin atop warm food, which absorbs the truffle's aroma.

Other cooks put truffles in closed containers with food to impart a truffle flavor. You don't need much since a little goes a long way.

It can be difficult to find truffle oil that includes real truffles. It's out there, but most of it is cooking oil scented with chemicals found in truffles but not truffles themselves. You shouldn't cook with truffle oil since heat tends to alter it, advises RecipeGeek. It's considered a finishing oil, best when sprinkled sparingly over prepared food like eggs, cooked vegetables, pasta or potatoes.

Even french fries are subjected to the treatment. Truffle oil has its passionate defenders and detractors.