Product

The Truffle

« The Diamond of Cuisine », «The Black Pearl of Périgord », « mushrooms of the devil », or « plants born of the rain », the truffle has made itself renowned since the time of Theophrastus. In France, its first appearance was at the table of François the First.
The truffle is the fructification of an underground mushroom. It issues from the mycelium, which are fine filaments which live in association with the roots of trees. This association produces mycorrhyzae, from which new filaments arise, and which in turn engender new truffles. After several months, when the truffle is ripe, it releases spores which sprout and produce their first filaments which penetrate the rootlets of the tree. It is truly a symbiosis between mushroom and tree, as the mycorrhyzae produce sugars, vitamins, or hormones that benefit the tree.

Black Truffles

Gastronomy :

Truffles add flavor to foie gras, pâté en croute and terrine, stuffings and a variety of sauces, such as Périgueux sauce. They marry themselves well with pastas, gnocchis, and vol-au-vents (bouchées à la reine). One of the simplest recipes, well known to truffle producers, is to crumble a bit of truffle directly into an omelet. Another method is to put eggs with a bit of truffle into a hermetically closed recipient in the refrigerator; the eggs soon take on the flavor of the truffle, and can then be cracked into an omelet. Truffle oil allows for more convenient use in the kitchen, just trickle a fine line over pasta, rice, in an omelet, or into the cooking juices of meats.

Botany :

Wild truffles are mainly found in oak forests, and on varied kinds of well drained, calcareous terrains. Since the 1980s, cultivated truffles are produced in almost all calcareous regions, and supply 80 % of the truffles on the French market today. The « caveurs » or « rabassiers » (truffle collectors) are more and more likely to use dogs than pigs, as the latter are more difficult to control. The old timers prefer to search « à la mouche », by indication of a fly attracted to the truffles. Trufficulteurs have to compete with the wild boars.

Gastronomic variety of truffles :

Tuber melanosporum Vitt., called the black truffle of the Périgord, very strongly fragrant and pleasing to the tastebuds. Found in Dordogne, the Lot, and generally in Southeastern France, but also in Spain, Italy, and in former Yugoslavia. It is often found living in symbiosis with the white oak and Holm oak. Maturity: mid-November to end of March.
Tuber æstivum Vitt., called Mayenque truffle, with a fine fragrance reminiscent of the forest understory and a light woodsy taste of mushroom. Maturity: beginning of May to end of September.
In Italy, Tuber magnatum Pico, called the white truffle of Alba. Maturity : beginning of October to end of December.
In Italy, Tuber borchii vitt. or Tuber Albidum Pico, called the white truffle of Mars. Fragrance which evokes garlic. Maturity : beginning of January to end of April.
Tuber uncinatum Chatin, called the truffle of Bourgogne which resembles Tuber aestivum but with a more pronounced smell and taste. It is the most widespread in all of Europe and is in symbiosis with a larger variety of trees (oaks, hazels, European hornbeam, beech and pines). Less demanding in terms of temperature and soil quality. Maturity : mid-September to end of January.
Tuber mesentericum Vitt., agreeable smell of licorice and almonds, bitterness of taste. Maturity : mid-September to end of December.

Prices vary depending on the size, species, and quality of the truffle, but can reach several hundreds of euros. The rare white truffle of Alba, which only grows in the Piedmont region of Italy has surpassed 15,000 €/kg in years of thin harvests. Truffles usually weigh between 20 and 100 grams, but in some exceptional cases can weigh over a kilo.
Although the forested surfaces of land have increased in France in the 20th century, soil degradation, and to some degree, overexploitation are cause for the decrease in truffle production from 1000 tons/year in the 1900s to just 50 tons/year in 2000, even despite ever more controlled and scientific methods of cultivation. This production is very sensitive to climatic hazards. Whereas the Lot region was reputed for its truffles around 1900, the first two truffle producing regions of France are Bourgogne and Poitou.

Truffle products at the shop

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