Truffle

TRUFFLE A subterranean fungus lives in symbiosis with certain trees, mainly the oak but also the chestnut, hazel and beech. A highly esteemed foodstuff, the truffle ( from the Latin tuber, meaning 'outgrowth' or ' excrescence') is rounded , of variable size and irregular , and black, dark brown, or sometimes grey and white in colour; it is found especially in chalky soil or clay, quite near the surface ( less than 30 cm (12 in) deep. French truffle production ( particularly in the southwest and southeast) has greatly declined since the beginning of the 20th century, because of the deforestation, the deterioration of the suitable land, the use of pesticides etc. Before 1914, some 1800 tons of truffles were harvested in the whole of the France. These figures explain why the liberal use of truffles in certain classic recipes in now impracticable. Methodical truffle cultivation has not yet given conclusive results. MYSTERIOUS ORIGINS AND SMALL SCALE HARVESTING: The Truffle has been known and appreciated since ancient times. The Egyptians ate truffles wrapped in goose fat and cooked en papillote. The ancient Greeks and Romans attributed therapeutic and aphrodisiac powers to them; the latter quality was still recognised in the 19th century, when Alexandre Dumas wrote, 'They can, on certain occasions, make women more tender and men more lovable.' Up to the beginning of the 18th century, their origin was shrouded in mystery : 'Since, during storms, flames, leap from the humid vapours and dark clouds emit deafening noises, is it surprising that lightening, when it strikes the ground , give rise to truffles, which do not resemble plants ?' asked Plutarch. In the Middle Ages, when they were looked upon as the manifestation of the devil, they fell into oblivion. Having returned to popularity during the Renaissance they subsequently suffered a further eclipse, but came back to favour under Louis XIV and have resigned supreme since then, La varenne recommended ragout of dried, cooked in wine, seasoned with salt and pepper, and served on a napkin or in a dish garnished with flowers. In 1711, Claude Joseph Geoffroy, a French botanist, published a paper, entitled Vegetation de la truffle, which definitely classified the truffle among the mushrooms. The practice of using muzzled pigs to seek out truffles was common in the 17th century; in 1705 Lemery wrote: `There are dogs which can detect them as well as pigs. Some peasants, in areas where truffles are found, have taught themselves through long experience to recognise the places where they are Hidden.' Nowadays, the many varieties of truffles are always gathered with the assistance of an animal (pig or dog) that can detect their presence. In some cases, the movement of the fly may reveal that ruffles are nearby. With the animal on a leash, the ‘digger' follows its footsteps and unearth the truffles as soon as the animal begins to root in the ground. He then carefully replace the clod of earth so that no traces remain- the other truffles must be left to mature and the curiosity of potential poachers should not be aroused. Truffle cultivation remains essentially empirical and small scale: truffles are neither sown nor planted. They spring up spontaneously when the fungal spore or mycelia encounter the rootlets of an oak tree( or another symbiotic species) and form a fruiting body of the fungus and does not appear to be connected by any filaments to the mycorrhiza. THE TRUFFLE IN COOKERY: A good black truffle must be well rounded and in a single piece. It is not at its best until ripe, which prompted Grimod de La Reyniere to say: `Truffles are only really good after Christmas.... So let us allow ignorant fops, beardless gourmands, and inexperienced palate triumph of eating the first truffles.'

641.5 K.Rajshekhar. January-05. No. 28 (04). B.Sc. H & HA. Page 1 of 2.

Although its use in cookery is more restrained than in the past, because of its rarity and high price, the prestige of the truffle remains intact and the superlatives attributed to it bear witness to its almost mythical quality: ` diamond of cookery ' ( Brillat Savarin ), `fairy apple' ( George Sand ), `black queen' (Emile Goudeau ), `gem of poor land ' ( Colette ) , `fragrant nugget' ( J. de Couquet), `black pearl ' ( Fulbert Dumonteil ), and holy of holies for the gourmet ( Alexandre Dumas ). Regarding their cost, JL Vaudoyer is said to have observed : ` There are two types of people who eat truffles : those who thinks truffles are good because they are dear and those who know they are dear because they are good.' Truffles are eaten raw or cooked , cut into strips or slices, diced or shredded, in the form of juice, fumet or essence, or simply for the fragrance: `When you feel like eating boiled eggs, if you have some truffles in the house, put them in a basket with eggs and the next day you will have the best boiled eggs you have ever tasted in your gastronomic life.' ( M. des Ombiaux). Truffles occur, frequently associated with the fois gras, in all recipies called Periguex or a la perigourdine; these can include game, meat, poultry, pate, forcemeat, black puddings (blood sausages), egg dishes, and salads. They also feature in various sauces (diplomat, financiere, Joinville, regence, and riche) and garnishes (banquiere), Belle-Helene, Berny, cardinal, Chambord, Demidof, favorite, Frascati, Godard, Lorette, Luculus, reforme, and Rohan). Other prestigious dishes including truffles are : fillet of beef Prince Albert; timbale Talleyrand; chicken a la d' Albufera, demi-deuil, and Edward VII;fillet of sole a l'imperiale and Renaissance;lobster with Victoria sauce, tournedos Rossini; etc. However, as Colette says, `You must pay its weight in gold for it, and then in most cases you put to some paltry use. You smear it with foie gras, you bury it in poultry overloaded with fat, you , you chop it up and drown it in brown sauce, you mix it with vegetables covered in mayonnaise.....To hell with thin slices, strips, trimmings, peelings of truffles! Is it not possible to like them for themselves? ' Indeed , the true connoisseur enjoys truffles whole and fresh, either raw, with butter or salad, or cooked ( in embers, braised with white wine or champagne, or in a puff pastry case ). Colette also gives us a delicious recipe: ` Steep in good very dry white wine (keep your champagne for banquets; the truffle does very well without it), lightly seasoned with salt and pepper, Cook in a covered black cocotte. For 25 minutes it dances in the boiling liquid with 20 or so lardoons - like tritons playing around a black Amphitrite - which gives substance to the cooking juices. No other spices whatsoever! And to hell with the pressed napkin, tasting and smelling of chlorine, the final bed of the cooked truffle! Your truffles should come to their table in their court bouillon. Take a generous helping: the truffle whets the appetite and assists the digestion.' CANNING Truffles are now sold in cans, peeled and scrubbed, ripe and whole. They are graded : surchoix (with firm flesh, black, and of a uniform size and colour), extra (with firm flesh, more or less black, and slightly irregular in size), premier choix (with more or less firm flesh, sometimes light in colour, of irregular size, and possibly with abrasions). They are also canned in pieces (at least 5mm (1/4 in) thick, dark in colour, with up to 2% impurities), peelings (of variable colour, with 20% cracks at most and up to 3% impurities), and fragments (with up to 5% impurities.) ******************************

641.5 K.Rajshekhar. January-05. No. 28 (04). B.Sc. H & HA. Page 2 of 2.