FoodFood InformationMushrooms
Black Truffle A.K.A.: Perigord Truffle, French Truffle
Flavor and Texture: penetrating, sweet musty odor; rough, ridged skin.
Description: blue-black flesh with fine whitish veins embedded inside. Note:
to use a truffle, brush the dirt away or run the truffle under cool water
briefly. They keep well in rice. The regions of Perigord and Magny are the
world-famous homes of these prized mushrooms. They grow 6-12 inches below
ground on the roots of sycamore, oak or beech trees. From spore to maturity.
the truffle takes 10-12 years to reach full flavor maturity. which is largely
why they're so expensive, fluctuating around $400 per pound. The truffle
emits a chemical odor which is very similar to a male swine's sex pheromone,
explaining why female pigs naturally sought them out. Recent evidence has
shown that the truffle's special chemistry may also be related to a hormone
present in human male sweat glands, perhaps explaining why people have persistently
sought them out as well! Attempts to farm truffles in Texas and California
have largely failed. Grafting techniques in which truffle spores are inoculated
on choice trees have yielded less aromatic truffles with nowhere near the
flavor of the wild fungus. There are over 60 different varieties of truffle
and some do grow wild in the United States But the two choice varieties
are unequivocally the black and white truffles discussed here, native only
to specific regions of Europe.