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Truffles are ranked alongside Caviar and Foie Gras as one of the "World's Three Greatest Delicacies" and are among the noble ingredients. In 2017, an Alba White truffle of about 1 kilogram was auctioned for about 600,000 yuan! The name is so loud, can't help but arouse the strong interest of the editor, what is the magical charm of truffles?
What exactly does truffle look like?
Simply put, truffle is a fungus that grows on the roots of trees under the surface of the earth, with a growth cycle of only one year, a peculiar shape and different sizes, and a special fragrance.
Truffle is a collective name for several edible ascomycete species, and is a fungus like mushrooms and reishi mushrooms. Truffles grow in the soil , are a tuber that attaches to the roots of trees , containing a large amount of water and trace mineral elements such as potassium , calcium , magnesium , iron , and fluorine. It is not soft and juicy like ordinary mushrooms, but the texture is harder. Truffle growth cycle is only one year, its size and age are completely unrelated, only with the change of seasons and growth, death and birth.
Truffles are strange in shape and size, from as small as peanuts to as large as handballs. Truffles have a special aroma that has fascinated many people since ancient times.
The aroma has been described as "unbeatable in the world, a little unbelievable, and the same is true of all those who smell excellent." "The smell is also amazingly penetrating, and it can penetrate layers of paper and even plastic bags." Just need to sniff it is enough, if you suck a little thicker, it will be too much, it will make you have no appetite, because the smell is so strong and like stinky tofu.
—— "About Taste"
What varieties of truffles can be divided into?
More than 100 kinds of truffles are found worldwide, such as pine truffles, garlic truffles, Oregon White Truffle, Oregon Black Truffle, Oregon Brown Truffle and Pecan Truffle. But the most famous are the Black Truffle from France and the white truffle from Italy, which will be described in detail here:
(1) Black truffle
Its commercial value is second only to white truffles. Black truffles mostly grow silk at the roots of oak, hazelnut and cherry trees and are harvested in late autumn or winter. Perigord in southwestern France is its main producing area and once became synonymous with black truffles.
(2) Summer black truffles or Burgundy truffles
Summer or Burgundy Truffle is the same creature and is considered a prized delicacy, often used in French and Italian haute cuisine. Summer black truffles are widely cultivated in Europe and do not have a strong aroma; Burgundy truffles (also known as autumn black truffles) have a strong hazelnut-like smell and a very dark color.
(3) White truffle
White truffles are mostly harvested in winter. The reason why white truffles are so revered is related to their inexplicable mysterious fragrance, some people say that it is sweet and has a rich garlic-like fragrance, but in addition to the nutty tone brought by the roots of the trees that grow next to white truffles, mixed with minerals and the secretions of forest animals.
Due to their preciousness and low production, white truffles generally only appear in auctions and media headlines. The hills of Langhe in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy are rich in white truffles, especially near Alba and Asti.
(4) Spring white truffles
Spring Whitish Truffles are very similar to Piedmont's white truffles, but at a cheaper price. Spring white truffles are earthy, spicy and musky, mostly harvested in winter or spring, mainly in Tuscany, Abruzzo, Romagna and Umbria, Italy.
Are truffles really "picked" by pigs and dogs?
Indeed it is. Truffle is a mycorrhizal fungus, so it is usually easy to find it at the roots of various trees. Because collection is not easy, pigs or dogs with a keen sense of smell are mostly used to find and dig for truffles.
Sows are the most sensitive and are natural truffle hunters, partly because sows love truffles so much that they often eat the truffles they find, and because the smell of truffles is similar to androstenol, the chemical that induces sows to be sexually impulsive. However, due to the destruction of truffle mycelium when pigs arch their noses on the ground, resulting in a decline in truffle production, the Italian government banned the use of pigs to excavate truffles after 1985.
Compared to pigs, dogs also have a sensitive sense of smell and are easier to control. But with the exception of lagotto Romagnolo, other dogs need to be trained to remember the smell of truffles.
Is the nutritional value of truffles really high?
It's natural. Truffles are rich in protein, 18 amino acids (including 8 essential amino acids that the body cannot synthesize), unsaturated fatty acids, multivitamins and various trace elements (zinc, manganese, iron, calcium, phosphorus and selenium), as well as metabolites with extremely high nutritional health value, such as male ketones (which help yang and regulate endocrine significant effects), sphingolipid compounds (have obvious activity in preventing Alzheimer's disease, atherosclerosis and anti-tumor cytotoxicity), polysaccharide polypeptide triterpenes (with enhanced immunity, Anti-aging, anti-fatigue and other effects, can be used for health care. ）。
Why are truffles so expensive?
According to truffle houses, in general, the price of French black truffles is 6,300 - 9,500 yuan / kg, while Italian white truffles can be as high as 15,000 - 60,000 yuan / kg, and the price of fine Italian white truffles may be higher.
A huge white truffle on the Croatian island of Istria weighs 1.31 kilograms, and a New York restaurant owner bids for about 300,000 yuan for this new sky-high white truffle.
In 2007, a white truffle weighing 1.497 kilograms sold for about 2.37 million yuan.
At the charity auction of white truffle mushrooms in Italy in 2008, "gambling king" Ho Hung-sun won the largest white truffle mushroom for about 1.43 million yuan.
You get what you pay for, and truffles are expensive for many reasons:
(1) Truffle cultivation is not easy. Because growing underground, truffles cannot photosynthesize to make the carbohydrates needed for growth, and can only obtain nutrients through the roots of symbiotic tree species, so technically speaking, it is not truffles that are planted, but trees that are "infected" with truffle spores (such as oak, pine or oak). Under the cultivation of suitable rainwater, soil, minerals, symbiotic tree species and soil pH, truffles slowly grow out at the roots of these trees, as little as 5 years, as much as 10 years, of course, there are cases where they are not cultivated.
(2) The cost of truffles from growth to consumption is very high. On the one hand, truffles are mostly cultivated by artificial cultivation, and the labor cost is quite high; on the other hand, truffles grow under the ground, which is very inconvenient to collect; and as a very delicate fungus, truffles need to be carefully preserved, in addition to the appropriate temperature, before eating, it must be wrapped with soil of origin, and then gently wiped off the surface soil with a fine cotton cloth.
(3) In most cases, truffles are in short supply. On the one hand, growers will control production in order to prevent prices from plummeting; on the other hand, truffles have a very high nutritional value and are in great demand.
(4) The nutritional value of truffles is very high, the demand is large, and the situation of short supply makes its price remain high.
How to eat truffles?
The market now has fresh truffles and truffles kept in salt water. Because of the high price and strong taste, truffles are generally only used a little. In the past, truffles were peeled, but now more grinding is used to avoid waste. Truffles are generally only used as an ingredient, and a little bit will make the whole dish full of flavor.
(1) Truffles can be cut into thin slices and grilled together in meat, or used to roast foie gras; some cheeses also add truffles, such as italian cheese with mushroom juice; you can also bake small potatoes with truffles with olive oil;
(2) White truffles are generally eaten raw, ground and sprinkled on pasta or omelettes.
(3) The taste of black truffles is not as strong as that of white truffles, and can be used to make truffle salt or truffle honey, and can also be used with saffron spaghetti.
How to pair truffles with food and wine?
Considering the aroma of truffles themselves, try to avoid light wines and fruity wines when mixing wines, and choose wines with a certain bottle ageing time and complex aromas.
(1) If you are paired with red meat, you can choose Barolo or Bordeaux dry red for more than 20 years, the aroma of earth and mushrooms can support the aroma of truffles, and the tannins and acidity of dry red can just dilute the greasy feeling of meat.
(2) If you are catering to fish, you can choose cote d'Or dry red with a certain age or Riesling in Alsace.
(3) If you have a truffle risotto with a meal, you can choose Burgundy dry white, whose rounded taste is paired with a rich wine aroma with delicious truffles.
Does truffle have its own festival?
Yes, truffle festivals are held every year around the world, such as the Melbourne Truffle Festival in Australia (this year on June 22-23) and the Napa Truffle Festival in the United States (this year on January 18-21), but the most famous is the Italian Truffle Festival.
The Fiera del Tartufo Bianco d'Alba festival takes place every year from October to November. Alba is the capital of the Lange Mountains, known for its gastronomic cuisine and the largest truffle trading center in the world. This year's 89th Edition of the White Truffle Festival will take place in Mondena from 6 October to 25 November. The event begins with an overnight concert and food booth, followed by the Truffle World Auction and the White Truffle Visitor Walk.
Other Italian cities also host truffle festivals, such as the San Miniato Truffle Fair (held on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th weekends of November) and the Acqualagna Fair (the weekend from the end of October to mid-November).