Truffle FAQ — The Culinary Collection Version 2.0

Compiled (and mostly written) by Tanith Tyrr (BayGourmet(at)tripod(dot)net), with lots of help from Dan Wheeler (dwheeler(at)teleport(dot)com or http://www.oregonwhitetruffles.com), Kate B (kate(at)wwa(dot)com) and chef Terry Mitchell of Amsterdam (http://www.mitchell.demon.nl/cook.htm).

Back to the Basics: Go to the Truffle Basics FAQ

History Lessons: Go to the Truffles in History FAQ

Go to the Bay Gourmet Main Menu

HOME KITCHEN RECIPES — A Simple Beginning (collection of basic truffle recipes), Truffled Bresaola Salad, Polenta Pie with Truffles, Fonduta con Tartufi, Preserved Truffle Quiche, Truffled Eggs (several recipes), Black Truffle Crostini, Truffle Potato Salad, Foie Gras Fans With Mango. Recipe collection: North American Truffling Society

FOR CHEFS: BUILDING YOUR OWN RECIPES — Truffle tasting notes, culinary matches for different truffle species, answers about truffle oil.

PRESERVATION — Recipes for the long term preservation and storage of commonly available truffle varieties, directions on how to clean and prepare different varieties of truffles for preserving or cooking, notes on the preparation and long term storage of dried mushrooms.

Recipes

A Simple Beginning With Truffles

by Tanith Tyrr

Truffles cry out to be showcased elegantly but simply—the classic backdrops for the intense flavor of these rare and delicious wild mushrooms are mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, pasta, polenta and risotto. You can use your own recipes for any of these dishes and simply drizzle truffle oil and add fresh raw truffle shavings on top, or use the following:

• Scrambled eggs with truffles: Beat eggs lightly in a bowl with a little cream; add white or black pepper if desired, but no salt. Scramble over medium heat in lightly browned butter. At the last minute of cooking (literally; all of the soft textured truffles are generally best either raw or very lightly heated, just enough to incorporate their essence into the dish), add slivered or shaved truffles. Oregon truffles work very well indeed with this dish. Add freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste after cooking.
• Truffle omelette: Beat three eggs with a touch of pepper (no salt until after cooking please; it causes chemical changes that toughen the egg) and a dash of water or cream. The more thoroughly you beat the eggs, the smoother the omelette will be, and if you beat them to the point of fluffiness, the omelette will be very light and fluffy and should be cooked over slightly lower hear. Fry gently in an omelette pan.
  • Option I: Add sliced, peeled black truffles soaked in brandy right after the eggs have set slightly, a few minutes into the cooking.
  • Option II: Add about 5 minutes before the end of the cooking sliced Oregon White truffles. Try adding them, waiting a minute and then turning off the flame and letting them sit for an additional few minutes to allow them to incorporate into the dish.
  • Option III: Add in the last 30 seconds of cooking, after the heat is off, Italian white truffle shavings and oil. Top omelettes with creme fraiche or unsweetened whipped cream.
• Truffled mashed potatoes: Peel and quarter potatoes; Yukon or Finnish gold are preferred. Put through a potato ricer for best consistency; add butter, cream, salt and pepper to taste. Just before serving, drizzle with truffle oil (any kind) and mix to incorporate. Do not reheat potatoes once the truffle oil has been added. Garnish with truffle shavings. Good results can also be achieved by using plain boiled or steamed potato slices and drizzling truffle oil over them. You may slice in fancy shapes or use attractive garnishes (lemon slices, parsley, grated Parmesan cheese, etc) to create an elegant but easy-to-make appetizer.
• Truffled risotto: Use any standard plain risotto recipe, and incorporate the truffles very late in the cooking.
  Options: drizzle with white truffle oil and shavings, add slivers of Oregon white truffle, or cook down black truffles over very low heat for 45 minutes or so in equal parts demiglace and good red wine, and incorporate into the risotto.
• Truffled polenta: Make any standard recipe for firmly setting polenta suitable to be sliced and served in squares. Top with various options: Drizzled white truffle oil and shavings, slivered Oregon truffles, truffle oil and strips of prosciutto, Italian or Oregon white truffles and melted fontina or Asiago cheese, simmered black truffle shavings in demiglace and wine.
• Pasta con tartufi: Boil fresh pasta for no more than a few minutes; drain and allow to cool to serving temperature. Add one of the following: 1/8 tsp truffle oil per serving, 1/8 tsp black or white truffle paste per serving, chopped fresh Oregon truffles to taste (about 1/2 oz to 1 oz per serving—you can afford it!). Serve with Balsamic Truffle Dressing on the side if desired. Gnocchi (Italian potato dumplings) are particularly wonderful drizzled with browned butter and white truffle oil and scattered with black walnuts as they do at Oliveto's, a classic cuisine Italian restaurant in Oakland, California.
• Truffle dressing: Mix truffle oil and vinegar (balsamic works well) to your taste; start with 2:1 oil to vinegar and work from there. You can stretch the truffle oil by cutting it with hazelnut oil. Emulsify by beating thoroughly, and add cream if desired for a thicker consistency. This dressing is excellent on salads and preserved meats as well as pasta.

Truffled Bresaola Salad

by Tanith Tyrr

Note that either the hard-to-find and expensive Italian White Truffle (tuber magnatum pico) can be used in this salad, or you can use the Oregon White Truffle (tuber gibbosum) to excellent effect on both your palate and your pocketbook.

Mix balsamic vinegar, hazelnuts and hazelnut oil until blended. Arrange frisee to cover the plate, and pour the hazelnut/balsamic dressing over the greens. Arrange bresaola in slices around the plate, and then spoon the mushrooms in a spiral pattern over bresaola and lettuce. Scatter crushed black walnuts over the mushrooms, and drizzle white truffle oil over the bresaola and the salad. Garnish with white truffle slices, as generously as your supply allows.

Note: don't use chocolate truffles in this recipe; I don't think the results would be good. Use the fungus (tuber mushroom) instead. ;)

Polenta pies with truffle filling

by Terry Mitchell <mitchell(at)mitchell(dot)demon(dot)nl>, Michelin award winning chef http://www.mitchell.demon.nl/cook.htm

Prepare the polenta with the chicken stock and when ready stir in the egg yolks and cheese. Season and allow to cool. Oil 8 non-stick molds of 3 inches / 8 cm. diameter, 1 inch / 3 cm. deep, with olive oil. Roll out the polenta between two sheets of plastic foil to a thickness of 1/5 inch / 5 mm. Line the molds with the polenta and fill with tomato, foie gras and truffle. Cover the pies with a polenta lid and bake for 8 minutes in an oven pre-heated to 390°F/200°C. Clean the mushrooms, slice them and fry in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. To serve turn out the pies straight from the oven onto plates and serve with fried cepes.

Happy Cooking !!!
Terry Mitchell

Fonduta con tartufi

Compliments of Lorenza de Medici, contributed by Kate (kate(at)wwa(dot)com)

Cover cheese with the milk and let stand for about 3 hours. Drain and reserve 1/4 cup of the milk. Place cheese in the top of a double boiler with a little salt and place over simmering water. Stir constantly with a whisk until melted and smooth. Heat the reserved milk and mix in the butter and egg yolks. Stir rapidly into the melted cheese until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Pour into a heated serving dish, shave the truffle thinly over the top and serve while still very hot.

Mushroom quiche with preserved truffles

by Tanith Tyrr

Add all solid ingredients in the lightly baked or unbaked crust. Pour the binder over it, but do not overfill as the pie will rise a bit. Bake at 350°F for about 15 minutes initially, then take it down to 325° for another 30 or 40 minutes or until it has set to your taste. It will set a bit firmer when cool.

Mix and match list of solids: fresh herbs like parsley or basil, fresh wild mushrooms (sautee first), cooked diced bacon, proscuitto or cured venison, duck meat, wild garlic greens, wild rice, goat cheese, hazelnuts or walnuts, whole raw Oregon white truffles...use your imagination, eh? You can also add neat-o stuff to the basic pie crust recipe like dried mushroom powder or herbs, or make your crust out of things like wild rice, sourdough bread crumbs or fresh vegetables whirled with the basic flour and butter short crust.

Devilled Eggs with Truffles

by Daniel Wheeler (http://www.oregonwhitetruffles.com)

Boil eggs in salted water for 12-15 minutes. Plunge into cold water to cool for 2 minutes. Peel while still warm, slice longitudinally. Remove hardened yolks. Blend into yolks the Miracle Whip and canned olives. Olive pieces should be less than 1/4-inch long. Spoon into egg halves.

Arrange artistically on a platter with contrasting garnish, such as Red peppers, Green beans, broccoli, and/or tomatoes. I like using cauliflower to continue the white of the boiled eggs.

Using a thin-bladed knife, slice truffles as thinly as possible. Use as garnish over the yolk-Miracle Whip-olive mixture, pressing down slightly. Refrigerate for 20–30 minutes, covered, before serving. The wait period allows the aromas to permeate the eggs. Use are hors d'oeuvres. Makes 48 devilled eggs.

Truffled Eggs II

Uova Strapazzate Al Tartufo

Scrambled eggs with truffles (tuber magnatum or melanosporum), by "Kate B" <kate(at)wwa(dot)com>

Black Truffle Crostini

by "Kate B" <kate(at)wwa(dot)com>

Place garlic and green peppercorns in a mortar and reduce to a pulp. Cut the well trimmed livers and truffles into small cubes. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and when hot add the livers and truffles. Stir fry for about 5 minutes then add garlic/peppercorns and cook for about 2 more minutes. Add brandy and lemon juice, season with salt & pepper and blend well. Spread evenly on toasted bread.

Awesomely Decadent Truffle Potato Salad

by Tanith Tyrr

1 1/2 lbs potatoes
1/2 cup white truffle oil
1/2 cup fresh sweet hazelnut oil
1 egg yolk
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp lemon juice or water
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
3 hardboiled eggs, sliced or coarsely chopped
Whole or quartered truffles (Oregon white truffles do very nicely)

Taste your oils before combining them—be sure they are both sweet and pure, and have not gone "off" or rancid. Your end result is only as good as its lowest quality ingredient, so exercise quality control.

With the egg yolk, vinegar, lemon juice or water, and oils make a mayonnaise. See below if you are not familiar with the process. Keep the mayonnaise refrigerated while cooking the potatoes.

You may peel and cut the potatoes into 1/2" chunks and steam them (this works well with Yukon Gold potatoes and also helps retain the colors on the exotic purple varieties), or boil them and cut them later. Allow cooked potatoes to cool, and mix them gently with the mayonnaise, walnuts, eggs and as many truffles as you can afford. Cover the salad and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least two hours before serving. Serve cold.

Truffle Mayonnaise

Begin by beating the egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar and 1 tablespoon of water or lemon juice. While beating (a mixer or blender makes this much easier; I use a small food processor), slowly pour in the oil, always making sure that the amount of free (unabsorbed) oil is a fraction of the amount of egg yolk or emulsified mayonnaise. If the mayonnaise gets very thick and the oil is not mixing in properly, add water a teaspoon at a time to help it.

If you are concerned about salmonella in raw eggs, there are two other ways to construct a suitable starter to add the oil to.

The first is to almost-cook the egg yolk with the aid of a microwave oven and three clean forks or small whisks. Beat together, in a microwave-safe bowl, the egg yolk, vinegar and lemon juice or water. Remember that the tool you use to beat this is "contaminated" and must no be re-used from this point. Put the mixture in the microwave on high and bring it to a boil. After 8–10 seconds of boiling, stop the oven and quickly beat the mixture thoroughly with a fresh clean fork or whisk, to make sure no cold spots remain. Place back in the microwave and repeat, beating at the end with a third clean fork or whisk.

The second is to begin with a relatively small amount of store bought mayonnaise (3 tbsp) in place of the egg yolk and vinegar and beat in a few tablespoons of water before adding the oil. This actually works with brands that do not use gelatin or artificial thickeners, although the result is a little thin. (There is about 1/3 of an egg yolk in a quart of commercial mayonnaise, and this stretches it even more.)

In eiher case, proceed to slowly add oil, as above. If the mayonnaise "breaks" into curdled egg and runny oil, don't panic—you have not wasted all that expensive oil. You either added the oil too fast or didn't have enough water. Set the broken mixture aside, and start over with a teaspoon or two of the broken mayonnaise (particularly the curdled egg) and a tablespoon of water, which should be easy to beat into a smooth but thin mayonnaise, then slowly add the broken mixture back in as if it were oil.

Chill the mayonnaise immediately and do not let any of this product remain at room temperature for longer than it takes to eat it.

Foie Gras Fans With Mango

Signature appetizer dish, Tanith Tyrr

Soak the liver overnight in water, milk or Sauternes. Carefully slice the liver into three to five sections that can be rolled into roughly cylindrical shapes (the liver will be malleable at room temperature), remove all veins and membrane, and allow the liver to sit under water for an hour or two to lose its chill. Use plastic wrap and preferably a Japanese sushi rolling mat to gently roll the roughly cut pieces into a cylindrical form inside the plastic wrap. Do not crush or damage the liver. Tie the ends of the plastic wrap with twine very tightly and gently poach the liver until the inside is still quite pink, generally no more than five to eight minutes in simmering water. Shock the packages in ice water to stop the cooking, and carefully drain off the foie gras oil into a container and freeze for later culinary uses. Sprinkle the cooked livers with salt and pepper and marinate in the refrigerator overnight in Sauternes and chicken broth with a few drops of brandy to taste.

Slice the mangoes into strips about 1/5" thick and 1" wide and arrange three strips together in a "fan" pattern. Add one slice of poached foie gras sprinkled with slivered or shaved black truffle and one thin slice of smoked duck breast and/or duck prosciutto. You may also use a strip of prosciutto to wrap the truffle and foie gras atop the mango fan.

For Chefs — Culinary Notes Section

Truffle Tasting notes — comparative culinary uses of the different varieties

by Tanith Tyrr

The cultivated Oregon white truffle lacks the complex, peppery-garlic aroma and taste of its more familiar Piedmont counterpart. However, it does have other intense flavor and aroma notes that the European product misses. Straightforward and powerful, the cultivated white truffle is the dark, rich essence of pure earth and potent, tangy musk. Crumbled into scrambled eggs, sliced over a fondue, shaved on risotto, slivered with the delicate white meat of quail or sprinkled over a wild mushroom sauce for steak, it can transform the merely good into the sublime with the subtle but potent culinary alchemy that is the hallmark of this underground treasure.

The powerful, earthy character of this truffle will stand up to being paired with similarly potent flavors in cooking or wine. Like many of the rest of this pungent group of subterranean fungi, its heady aroma will overpower an entire room should you unpack a bag of them and expose them to air for a few pungently perfumed minutes.

The American white truffle has many characteristics more reminiscent of the Italian black tuber than the typical white, although in color and appearance most of the fresh specimens are nicely pale throughout and mottled attractively.

The Oregon white truffle cannot be confused with the European product by any means; it is a distinctly different species with its own unique tasting characteristics. It should be appreciated on its own merits, which are by no means paltry. This member of the truffle family can certainly hold its head up with the rest of these elite fungi, as it contributes its own special brand of culinary alchemy to the discerning gourmet's kitchen.

Not the least of its merits is its price; with the Piedmont product ringing up in the best of gourmet stores at around $100 an ounce this season, and even the lowlier black truffle fetching similar or slightly lower prices, a price tag that is less than a tenth of that amount is enough to set most budget-conscious gourmets to salivating.

Unlike the more tempermental soft truffles, hard shelled black truffles (Italian melanosporum and aestivum as well as the less pungent and less expensive Chinese truffle) respond very well indeed to long, slow simmering in sauces and inclusion in braised dishes. They can also be eaten raw, but generally they are peeled before shaving or slivering over a dish. The tough but still fragrant and flavorful peels are best used as a flavoring agent in a preserve—chopped fine and incorporated into butter or in oil, or crocked under brandy—and the preserving agent will take on much of the flavor of the truffle.

Tested culinary matches in recipes for truffle varieties

• Italian white: pasta, eggs, butter, cream, white meat poultry (chicken, quail, Cornish hens), walnuts, risotto, Parmesan, Asiago and Romano cheese, frisee and other mildly bitter greens, white balsamic vinegar in a salad, bresaola or other cured meats such as prosciutto, potatoes and other gratin dishes, pate, rabbit, aged wild boar (matches the pheromonal content in the meat very nicely). Shaved raw, never cooked, and use the oil at the last minute and not in the cooking as heat destroys the aromatic compounds.
• Black French, Italian and Chinese: Dark meat poultry and game (duck, venison, wild boar), red meats (beef, pork, but lamb is not an ideal match), wild mushrooms, red wine sauces and great red wines, brandy (especially Calvados), apples, fennel, mellow cheeses (aged gouda, hard sweet goat cheeses), soups and bisques, pastry, bacon or pancetta. Black truffles need long, slow simmering to mellow and marry with a dish, though they can be used fresh when peeled and very thinly sliced or matchsticked.
• Oregon white truffles: Everything on the Italian list except aged wild boar and cured meats. They also compliment some of the culinary matches on the black truffle list, specifically dark meat poultry, pork and beef, mellow cheeses, great red wines and red wine sauces, soups and bisques, pastry and wild mushrooms. They also pair magnificently with tomatoes, something I don't think any other truffle does nearly as well. Their texture is much like the Italian white, soft and juicy, and they make an absolutely wonderful truffle butter if whirled with fresh sweet butter in a food processor. They specifically complement eggs and dairy products, and are excellent as part of a hearty beef dish such as filet mignon en croute, as their intense, musky-savory bouquet can stand up to even strong flavors. This extremely versatile truffle can be used either fresh and raw, sliced thin, lightly cooked in omelettes, or more moderately cooked as in for beef en croute or incorporated into a sauce or a pastry. Don't simmer them for as long as you would a black truffle.

Chinese Black Truffles: Telling truffles apart

There are two different varieties of truffles that look very much alike: the Chinese black truffle, which is considered very mild and flavor and much less valuable for culinary uses, and the famous Italian black truffle, Tuber melanosporum. Obviously, you don't want to pay Italian black truffle prices for the inferior Chinese product, but it can be difficult to tell them apart. One of the most important cues is odor. The Italian black truffles are much more strongly scented than Tuber himalayensis. However, unscrupulous dealers may try to cheat their customers by mixing the two varieties so that they both smell superficially like the more desirable and more expensive Italian truffle.

It can be difficult for even an expert to tell the difference, but here are a few basic guidelines that may help. Beware the Chinese truffle, Tuber himalayensis, which appears identical to melanosporum under simple visual inspection but is an inferior product for which you should be paying no more than $100 a pound for firm specimens with a marked mushroom odor.

Before you buy, put your black truffle specimens under a magnifying glass and look for a distinct pyramidal structure to the warts on the surface. Tuber melanosporum has gently rounded bumps; sharp, pointy little replicas of Giza are the hallmark of the inferior himalayensis, and woe betide any inept or crooked dealer trying to pass them off as melanosporum.

Oregon black truffles, on the other hand, belong in the category of soft truffles and bear only very superficial resemblance to the hard shelled Chinese and Italian varieties. They smell strongly and pleasantly of fresh pineapples, and should be used raw, or cooked only very lightly, like Oregon white truffles.

Truffle oil

Well known, "big name" brands to stick to are Agribosco and Urbani, as they use cold infusion and produce a consistent, reliable product that I have tested and use regularly. You can get much of the genuine flavor and effect of white truffle by using the less perishable and thus less expensive oil, extract or essence, if you have a quality product. 1/8 teaspoon of white truffle oil will generously flavor one appetizer serving.

Black truffle oil is also sold commercially, and it is subject to the same variations in quality control. I have consistently had markedly better results with home infused black truffle oil than with any commercial product I have so far been able to try.

You can make your own truffle oil by storing pieces of fresh truffle in clean, sweet, mild tasting oil. The more finely chopped the truffle is, the more of its essence it will give up into the oil and the less flavor the pieces themselves will retain. Make sure all liquid is drained off from the truffles before adding them to the oil; reserve the liquid for later use. Any kind of truffle may be used to make truffle oil. Light olive oil and grapeseed oil are good, neutral flavored oils.

Store truffle oil in a cool, dark place away from heat, light and oxygen. Some methods of excluding oxygen include sealing wax or plastic wrap on the surface of the oil as well as nitrogen gas dispensers, sold commercially for wine enthusiasts under the name Private Preserve.

Truffle oil that is kept very cold in your refrigerator will whiten and solidify, but this is not necessarily harmful to the flavor. Truffle oil is tolerant of cold, and can even be frozen, but like fine wine it is less tolerant of temperature fluctuations and may lose quality if it is allowed to solidify and liquefy repeatedly. Remove from cold storage only the amount you intend to immediately use, and leave the rest at temperature.

Preserved Truffles — recipes and information

© Tanith Tyrr 1997

Basic recipe for preserving all types of truffles

Drain all free juice from the truffles (hard truffles will not tend to "weep", though any soft truffles will); reserve juice and either salt the juice lightly to preserve or use immediately. Whip butter and truffles together by hand or in a food processor; pack tightly into a sealed jar. Do not can with heat. Make sure the top layer is entirely butter; do not allow any truffle pieces to be exposed on the surface. This product will keep in the refrigerator for up to one year in my experience, or indefinitely in the freezer, though some quality is gradually lost over time. If mold grows on the surface, scrape all traces of mold, discard mold and freeze the product.

Oil crocking recipe

For Italian whites, use a mushroom brush, a pastry brush or soft cloth to carefully remove all dust and dirt from the surface without using any water. Cut large Italian whites into chunks no bigger than 3/4" across for best preservation. For Perigord or Chinese (hard shelled) black truffles, scrub them with a toothbrush dipped in brandy, then dry them thoroughly. Cover completely with oil (surface should be at least 2" above truffles) and shake gently to eliminate air bubbles and to be sure the truffle pieces are completely covered. Seal the jar (do not use heat, but you might use plastic wrap or nitrogen gas to eliminate oxygen contact with surface), and refrigerate. Cut truffles will keep longer in butter or oil, but will not retain as much flavor. If you wish to preserve the product for the long term and allow most of its flavor to leach into the preserving agent, chop the truffle very finely and cover it completely with enough oil to stand at least several inches over the cut truffles.

Preserving hard-shelled truffles (French, Chinese and Italian black)

Notes on preservation

The following methods were tested: freezing in oil, freezing in alambic brandy and oil, crocking in cognac and oil, crocking in oil alone, storing in brandy alone, laying down in moisture-controlled sealed jars of rice or polenta, rubbing lightly with oil and/or alambic brandy and storing in rice.

Freezing truffles completely covered with oil—butter, duck fat or reserved foie gras drippings seem to serve best to fully coat and preserve the mushrooms—has yielded excellent results for Oregon truffles, Perigord and Chinese black truffles, with good product quality being maintained for up to a year. Frozen truffles are best cooked. Be sure that no truffle surface is left exposed; the mushrooms must be completely covered in fat to avoid freezer burn. And don't thaw the product before adding it to a dish; I found that frozen soft truffles turn into flavorless mush within an hour of defrosting, and the hard ones tend to dry up. Use them before you lose them.

Freezing truffles without oil is one of the spectacular failures. The product ends up dry and tasteless within days. Likewise, canning removes the majority of the flavor. I have found, in five years of searching, buying and experimenting, only one canned truffle product which I felt retained anything close to the genuine truffle aroma, a Tartuffon white truffle creme from a company in Italy. Urbani also makes an excellent white truffle cream product in a tube.

Refrigerating in brandy yields very respectable results with the hard-shelled black truffles, and poor results with most other types. Mixing a few drops of brandy in with the preserving oil before freezing again yields good results with hard shelled truffles and odd results with soft truffles. Truffled brandy is delicious to add savor to sauces or meats when added at the last minute.

Crocking in pure, unflavored oil such as grapeseed or a very light olive oil gives good results for the Italian white truffle as well as the hard shelled black truffles, and mediocre results for the Oregon soft truffles. The truffles infuse the oil with much of their aroma and taste, but I have noticed an interesting phenomenon: the oil can and does get supersaturated with the truffle aroma if you use enough truffles, at which point the truffles seem to stay much fresher and retain more of their properties. I know of no other preservation method that works well for the delicate Italian white.

Laying truffles down in a covered bed of rice or cornmeal yields good results for short term storage in the refrigerator, and also produce a delicious by-product of flavored rice or meal for risotto or polenta. This is a short term method and will not keep truffles for longer than two weeks at the maximum in reasonably good culinary condition. Some extension on this period can be achieved by scrubbing hard shelled truffles with brandy, and lightly oiling, as this inhibits mold spore growth on the outside of these truffles. This method yields mixed and uncertain results with Oregon soft truffles, and very poor results with Italian white truffles.

Cleaning and preparation

If you find serious mold on a hard shelled truffle's surface, it may still be salvageable. You can (as a last resort) scrub thoroughly under running water, or with a hard bristled "truffle toothbrush" dipped in alambic brandy. If you can successfully scrub off the mold and it has not penetrated the shell, and the aroma is still good, this truffle may still be preserved either by freezing in oil or butter or for a day or so by giving it a final scrub with the toothbrush dipped in oil and burying it in cornmeal or rice in a refrigerated container. If you are unsure, slice the truffle in half and look for soft or moldy bits, and smell again for off odors. Be sure to thoroughly dry off all truffles before attempting preservation.

Partially rotted truffles are best preserved by slicing off the rotted parts, chopping the remainder coarsely and whirling it into about 3× the volume of pure, lightly salted butter, then freezing the resulting truffle butter.

Dried Truffle Notes

To dry mushrooms and preserve as much of their flavor as possible, slice them fairly thickly (1/4–1/5") and lay slices on a cookie sheet in the oven. Leave on very low heat (150–200°F) for several hours or until mushrooms are dry to the touch but not brittle.

Keep all dried mushroom products in the freezer or refrigerator to prevent unwanted insects from contaminating the product. The moth that seems to particularly like dried mushrooms has been known to defeat "airtight" containers, and cold storage seems to be the only reliable way to keep your valuable dried mushroom collection from becoming a bug hatchery.

If your dried mushroom collection does sprout bugs and it is too expensive to throw away, don't panic. Microwave them several minutes on medium power to kill insects and eggs, and wash thoroughly in water. Scatter them on a cookie sheet and bake them dry, leaving them at about 225° for 30 minutes to an hour (keep checking them for burning or brittleness) until they are completely dry again. Allow to cool, then freeze or refrigerate in Ziploc bags. Mushroom bugs are harmless, but not tasty, and this proceedure will remove them from your culinary collection.

Truffle Links

The Truffle...

La Rabasse de Provence: The black truffle is considered the diamond of Provence.

Iron Chef: Battle Truffle Challenger Shimada vs French Iron Chef Sakai in a synopsis from the cult classic Japanese cooking game show.

Truffle Abstracts from Urbani Tartufi

Truffle Custard recipe from S. Anderson Vineyard

Culinary Cafe's Robiola Pizza with white truffle oil

Dean and Deluca's decadent catalog, including a lobster and black truffle recipe.

Cluck, Gobble Quack: Emeril Lagasse cooks truffle stuffed chicken legs in puff pastry with candied butternut squash, courtesy of FoodTV.

Miningco's Italian Food Guide

Truffles In New Zealand and an account of a truffle dinner

The Perigord Black Truffle and its cultivation in New Zealand

Tasmanian black truffles are currently being cultivated.

Yunnan Chinese truffles are grown in Kunming, China.

Auriac du Perigord, home of the black Perigord truffle.

Alba is the "city of the white truffle".

San Pietro Avellana is known as a hunting ground for the summer white truffle.

The Truffle: Black Pearl of Perigord. Sainte Alvere in Perigord is the first village in France to put its truffle market on the Internet. Subscribe t their truffle newsletter or visit their online market.

Garland Gourmet Mushrooms cultivates black truffles for sale.

SOS Chefs truffle price list, for emergencies of the palate.

Unionsum Food International Black truffle photos and descriptions.

Aux Delices carries a range of exotic wild mushrooms, including truffles, and has some fine recipes onsite.

Chateau des Chanoines cultivates and sells truffles.

Gourmet Mushrooms sells cultivation kits if you've ever wanted to try growing your own at home.

Mycoweb, the mycological database on the Internet.

Encyclopedia.com truffle information and useful links

Earth And Sky: A synopsis of a show about "truffle sniffing" and pheromones by Beverly Wachtel.

John Sonley's home page John is a "truffle sniffer" who is an expert on artificial smell.

Charlotte and the Black Diamonds: Charlotte is a truffle hunting pig, companion to longtime rabassier Marcel.

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"The most learned men have been questioned as to the nature of this tuber, and after two thousand years of argument and discussion their answer is the same as it was on the first day: we do not know. The truffles themselves have been interrogated, and have answered simply: eat us and praise the Lord."
Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870)

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More food quotations

Back to the Truffle Culinary FAQ
Back to the Truffle Basics FAQ
Learn about Truffles in History

See a photo of some Oregon white truffles courtesy of Daniel Wheeler.

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