Truffles
 Often
selling for up to $900 per pound, truffles are not your ordinary mushroom.
Chefs and food lovers alike adore the distinctive scent and taste
of this special fungus. But truffle cultivation is not an easy task,
which explains the high price. The soil preparation often takes three
to five years, profitability only occurring after eight to 10 years.
Truffles are often grown at the base of trees, particularly oak trees.
Since truffles sometimes grow as deep as 12 inches underground and
are difficult to detect, pigs and dogs are trained to seek out the
delicacy. However, some truffle-hunting humans can recognize a surface-growing
truffle simply with the power of their own sniffer.
The French truffle industry is the biggest in the world and they export
one-third of their harvest. The Périgord truffle is one of France's
most cherished types of truffle. Famous food writer Brillat-Savarin
called it "the black diamond." This truffle is black or
brown with white veins running through it.
Truffles are often lightly grated into dishes such as risotto, but
they are also made into flavorful truffle pastes and truffle oils.
Here's one of our fave ways to use truffles:
Omelette with Truffles and Bra Cheese
Ingredients
2 teaspoons butter
3 eggs
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1 button mushroom, sliced
2 tablespoons grated Bra
cheese
2 shavings black truffle, broken into pieces, or 1/2 teaspoon truffle
oil
and freshly ground pepper to taste.
Directions
1. In a medium saut? pan to saucepan , heat the butter over medium
heat.
2. In a small bowl, gently whisk the eggs. Pour them into the hot
saut?pan.
3. While eggs are cooking, sprinkle the green onions, button mushrooms,
Bra cheese and truffle pieces over them. Season the omelette with
salt and pepper.
4. Once the eggs are almost fully cooked, fold the omelette in half
and cook 2 minutes longer until eggs are set. Serve immediately.
Serves 1. |
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