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Truffles are worth the trouble

But one can't really fathom a truffle until one touches, smells, tastes and eats what some chefs refer to as "the black diamond."

By GUI ALINAT
Published December 28, 2005

"The origin of the truffle is unknown; they are found, but none know how they vegetate. The most learned men have sought to ascertain the secret, and fancied they discovered the seed. Their promises, however, were vain, and no planting was ever followed by a harvest. This perhaps is all right, for as one of the great values of truffles is their dearness, perhaps they would be less highly esteemed if they were cheaper.

"Rejoice, my friend," said I, "a superb lace is about to be manufactured at a very low price."

"Ah!" replied she, "think you, if it be cheap, that any one would wear it?"

- Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, 1825

170 years have passed since French epicure Brillat-Savarin wrote those words, and truffles still are not cheap. Nearly impossible to cultivate, their rarity makes them highly prized. And highly priced.

A recent charity auction at Christie's set a new record: $95,000 for a huge white truffle that weighed about 21/2 pounds.

Retailing at about $65 per ounce for fresh black winter truffles and $125 per ounce for fresh white winter truffles, this is a gourmet treat for exceptional occasions.

Exceptional is the taste too.

I could talk about intense, earthy flavor, the pungent scent of cooked wild mushrooms, subtle Gorgonzola cheese and a pleasant, rubbery smell. I could talk about autumnal aromas of woods, musk and decaying leaves, about the potency of the smell, one that could flavor your entire home if you left one small truffle on your kitchen counter.

But one can't really fathom a truffle until one touches, smells, tastes and eats what some chefs refer to as "the black diamond."

There are many types of truffles. There are the highly esteemed white and black winter truffles, in season now, respectively from Northern Italy and France's Provence, or from elsewhere, such as Spain, Poland or Croatia. There are the smaller, less pungent summer truffles, and the bland, chewy Chinese truffle.

Subvarieties abound. In Oregon and California, hunters have had success with an acceptable black truffle at a reasonable price. In some markets, the infamous, tasteless white truffle from West Africa is fraudulently stained to mimic the black truffle you can find at higher prices.

So, all truffles are not created equal. And neither are their gatherers.

It was common knowledge that truffles could not be cultivated. Yet, recently, some motivated, stubborn Frenchmen defied the laws of nature. The end justifying the means, they found a very winding way to produce truffles under oak trees. Exploiting the symbiotic relationship between a truffle and its host tree, the process is long, wasteful and sometimes unsuccessful. But they can, and do, cultivate truffles.

But mostly, truffles are hunted. Female pigs are attracted by the aroma that smells, at least to them, like sexual hormones of male pigs. They have been widely successful at finding truffles under oak trees. If you have ever witnessed this, you know that this almost always ends up in an absurd race between the pig and its owner, ultimately resulting in a fight for the precious truffle. Dogs, expensive to train but more mobile than pigs, are popular too.

Some older human hunters, helped by tradition, experience and a really well-trained nose, can sniff through the woods and find truffles, after they purposely parked their car on the opposite side of the hill, as a decoy to potential truffle sleuths. Truffle hunting is rarely witnessed by outsiders.

Like wild mushroom hunting, this is a murky business. I have memories of my late grandfather, a wild mushroom gatherer in the South of France, being extremely discreet and even reluctant to indicate his "spots."

In Northern Italy and Provence, during the season, you'll find truffle dealers in bars and cafes, faking innocence, hiding electronic scales and calculators in their pockets.

A recent visit to the Fresh Market in Clearwater brought a remarkable surprise. Many moons had passed since I last saw fresh truffles on the shelves of a bay area market. But here they were, smartly packaged, one good-sized truffle tucked into Arborio rice, unnoticed. I bought them all, for a reasonable $14 each.

Cooking with truffles is fairly easy. Classic combinations revolve around ingredients that will absorb their intense flavor. Naturally, potatoes, rice, pasta, polenta or eggs are all good supports to the truffles. Little or no cooking is necessary. Shave raw truffles on top of a salad, a risotto or mashed potatoes. Scramble eggs with a few chopped shavings. Truffles pair well with poultry. Some chefs roast turkeys, or free-range organic chickens with truffle slices inserted between the skin and the flesh.

If you make a sauce, like a port reduction, a shallot and mushroom or a cream sauce, you can add a few slices just before finishing the sauce. Brillat-Savarin, in his book The Physiology of Taste, recommended sauteing them in butter, cut into halves, with salt and pepper. Great if you can afford it.

-- Chef Gui Alinat welcomes questions about cooking and will respond to those of general interest in future columns. Sorry, he can't take phone calls or answer individual requests. Send questions to him in care of Taste, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, or e-mail him at chefgui@chefgui.com Please include your name and city of residence.

[Last modified December 27, 2005, 17:17:03]