He goes on to explain that truffles are a rare and delicious form of mushroom before bustling off to his other tables. While technically a mushroom, this elusive fungi is much harder to come by than your standard portobello or shiitake, to say the least. Meanwhile, you still have questions. What is a black truffle? What is a white truffle? Is it true that truffles look like poop? Are they safe? Are they being hidden away from us in order to keep the prices high?
Why do they taste so freaking good?!!! Not to be confused with fancy bite-sized chocolates of the same name, savoury truffles are subterranean fungi grown in calcareous soils near the roots of broadleaved trees such as oak or hazelnut.
Because of its spore-bearing body, the truffle is basically considered a form of mushroom. However, there are some important differences between these two respective groups. Namely, truffles grow underground while mushrooms typically grow above ground. For the sake of simplicity, most folks consider truffles to be a form of mushroom because both truffles and mushrooms are fungi with fruiting bodies.
The fruiting body, by the way, is the part of the fungus that reproduces spores. On a typical mushroom, for instance, the part that crops up is the actual mushroom i. Step one is to inject special fungi spores into oak or hazelnut trees when the trees are just seedlings, with each tree being a good distance from the next one. As the trees grow, the truffles likewise grow underground by attaching themselves to the tree roots. All the while, the truffles and host trees experience a symbiotic relationship, during which the truffles help the tree get nourishing phosphorous from the soil while the tree roots feed glucose to the growing truffles.
When it comes time to harvest, farmers use specially trained dogs or pigs to sniff out the distinct truffle aromas.
This occurs when animals dig up truffles and then poop out the spores, spreading them into other areas. Nowadays, however, a human will usually dig up the truffle before an animal can enjoy it. Whereas Australia was harvesting about one kilogram of truffles back in , that number is now hovering around 20, kilograms. The town of Manjimup—located at the southern end of Western Australia—is also a hotbed for truffle production. Over in New Zealand, the majority of farms are in the North Canterbury region.
While a variety of truffle species exist, most folks are familiar with the general categories of black truffles and white truffles. Black truffles tend to have rough and somewhat granular exteriors, resembling solid clumps of dirt or even lumpy poop depending on who you ask.
Their insides are far more fetching by comparison, looking almost like wagyu beef. White truffles, meanwhile, tend to resemble a rough-skinned potato on the outside. On the inside, they exhibit the kind of marbled mushroom quality that you find in black truffles, albeit in a slightly different form. Black truffles give off a pungent aroma and usually taste better when cooked. The flavour is often described as being nutty, earthy, woody, mushroomy, and even a little chocolatey.
White truffles are somewhat more subtle by comparison, though still completely discernible when added to any dish. Here are some restaurants and festivals in New Zealand and Australia where you can often find truffles on the menu:. Check it out. Black truffles tend to be earthy, nutty, a little sweet, and somewhat mushroomy. White truffles tend to be a little more subtle, exhibiting garlicky flavours.
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Much like animals, humans are attracted to truffles because of the scent they produce. The aroma and taste of truffles is often described as musky, earthy, and pungent, and can be attributed to the pheromone androstanol and other volatile compounds. Truffles need to be recovered foraged from under the soil. Traditionally, this was done with help from pigs. Sows are attracted to the scent of truffles because truffles contain the pheromone androstanol which is a sex hormone also found in the saliva of male pigs.
However, it is incredibly difficult to convince the sow not to eat the truffle after she works hard to locate it. Dogs on the other hand, are also great sniffers and will happily settle for an alternative treat.
Therefore, truffle hunters today prefer to use trained dogs for their foraging trips. Because of their high value, the possibility to cultivate truffles has always been a topic of much interest in different parts of the world. Today, only a handful of truffle farms exist.
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