The Truffle Reigns!
Origins
Growing underground, which makes it difficult to find, the truffle is rare and expensive. The King of truffles is the so-called “tuber melanosporum”: the black truffle.
Grown in France, Spain, Morocco, Italy and Eastern Europe from mid November to mid March, it generally weighs a few dozen grams. However, occasionally, exceptional specimens reach or even exceed one kilogram!
The other star is the white truffle or “tuber magatum” which is picked primarily in Italy. Even rarer than the black truffle, it is not cooked, unlike the black version.
Usage
Black truffles are traditionally used to enhance the flavours of fowl (pigeons, quail, poultry, etc.) and delicatessen meats (terrines), and magnificently represented by the “Anjou squab with truffles / whipped potatoes / mushrooms / crisp bacon / banyuls” proposed by Peter Goosens at Hof Van Cleve between Waregem and Courtrai (Belgium).
More generally, the truffle is marvellous with fatty ingredients like eggs, foie gras, butter, cheese, etc., whose chemical composition traps and releases its very volatile aromas; one example is “Duck foie gras ravioli with black winter truffles over a creamy violet artichoke & poultry velouté” at the Landmark Hotel in Hong Kong.
The truffle is also an excellent accompaniment to dishes as simple as pasta, mashed potatoes or toast, which highlight it most excellently.
However, more modern uses are also appearing, pairing it with quite mild seafoods like scallops or langoustines, and with certain cooked vegetables like leeks, or raw vegetables like a simple salad with truffle vinaigrette.
Three examples:
- “Langoustine with artichoke, Spanish ham, black truffle flan, lightly smoked cooking juices, kaffir and truffle cake” proposed by Sergio Herman at Oud Sluis, between Belgium and the Netherlands;
- “Stewed autumn vegetables and white Alba truffle, chicken broth velouté” created by Patrick Bertron, the chef at Relais Bernard Loiseau in Saulieu (France)
- and the very simple “Summer salad - frisée leaves, green beans, roasted ricotta cheese, black truffle vinaigrette” at the Four Seasons in Bayreuth (Lebanon).
