“A tussle with truffles” Special to the Toronto Star, Jan. 8, 2003, D1

 

A dusting is all that you'll need

To Scaramouche chef Keith Froggett, fungi can be as addictive as fine whisky.

But not just any mushroom is going to make him turn his head. We've got to be talking truffles - an exotic cousin of the mushroom, pursued by top chefs as one of the gourmet's dream foods.

"They have a pretty unique flavour that fills your whole head, you can feel it moving up your mouth and nasal passages ... it's almost a mystical thing," he says.

Sadly, you're not likely to come across truffles at the local A & P. This is way-high-end gourmet food, as these truffles are the Rolls-Royce of the fungi family. You'd be more likely to find them in the kitchen cupboards of royalty. These garlic-smelling beauties can cost from $2,000 to $5,000 a kilogram.

They have long been an exotic treat. "Truffles are a diamond of cookery," wrote Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin in The Physiology Of Taste, published in 1825.

They were mentioned in the first cookbook ever, Marcus Gavius Apicius's De re Coquinaria (On Cooking) that dates to the first century A.D. and details ancient Roman haute cuisine.

Forget about the chocolate version that bears the truffle name but has little else in common with the fungi form. The two most sought-after truffle types are actually the black and white varieties.

The white truffles - actually, more commonly beige - are more rare and pricey. They are found mainly in Piedmont, in the Alba region in Italy. The black ones are found mainly in Perigord, in southwest France but also in other parts of France, Spain and Italy. They range in colour from dark brown to black. Truffles can also be found in North America, mostly in Oregon and California, but it's the European varieties that make a chef's eyes light up.

Chefs who purchase truffles check that they are not covered in too much earth, which can hide flaws and raise prices, and check that they are firm, not spongy, have a musty aroma, and don't have too many knobs on the surface.

For those unaccustomed to the truffle, its allure may be veiled at first. And it gets worse. A whiff of just three or four of the golf ball-sized truffles from a few feet away is enough to make you stand back and clasp a handkerchief to your nose. The musky, earthy odour is overpowering.

But when used in small doses, truffles can inject a simple meal with vibrant flavour. The garlicky undertone becomes evident after a few bites. And truffle eaters can also detect the aroma of vines or berries that may grow underground near truffles, says Fausto Di Berardino, owner of Coppi Ristorante in Toronto.

Their flavour makes them coveted. The way they are harvested makes them complicated. It's a whole other story - and one that features pigs as hunters.

Truffles grow wild in temperate climates and open woodland. Since they're so valuable, truffle hunters usually work in the dead of night with only a flashlight to elude rivals.

They bring along specially trained pigs or dogs to unearth the treasures. The pigs have better noses, but they're also inclinded to eat the truffles themselves, once they've been found and dug up.

They also make a mess.

Italy has actually banned the use of pigs as truffle hunters since 1975 because they are so destructive of the truffles' environment.

Truffles mature fully underground under the shade of a tree - usually oak, sometimes poplar or willow. Cultivating the fungus is possible, but tricky. Farmers plant acorns or seedlings and spread the soil from truffle areas. They plough the soil lightly and prune the trees three years later. If truffles appear at all, they will do so after five years. And ultimately, that means any operation doesn't become profitable until eight or 10 years has passed. So you've got to be patient.

And passionate, although the truffles may help you in that area. They are a reputed aphrodisiac, after all. One anecdote has Madame de Pompadour feeding Louis XV truffles regularly to revive his lovemaking passion.

Di Berardino understands the power of the truffle. He is not immune to its charm himself. Di Berardino has been serving white truffles religiously at his restaurant.

His addiction began 40 years ago when he was about 12 years old. He was visiting his uncle in in Piedmont, and he went truffle hunting. That night, he ate risotto with white truffles.

"I must say, I never looked back," says Di Berardino. "You become almost addicted to this wonderful aroma."

When Di Berardino first began to serve truffles 12 years ago at Coppi Ristorante, he ordered 200 grams. Nine years later the order had increased to as much as 1.5 kilograms a year. This past year the order was 3.5 kilograms.

He says this is because a chef can be an ambassador of new foods and that patrons who travel often return with a yearning to try the foods they ate abroad. This year, Di Berardino spent $3,800 a kilogram, $1,000 less than last year.

Clearly truffles are beyond most restaurant-goers. Di Berardino's special truffle menu this year cost $120 a person for dishes including beef carpaccio with baby peaches marinated in white truffles and shaved white truffles on top, risotto with white truffles and a dessert such as zabaglione with truffles.

"You need to be reasonably sophisticated about food to take that leap of faith and pay that kind of money to enjoy them," says fellow fungi fan Froggett.

Christine Cushing, host of the Food Network's Christine Cushing Live was at a New York restaurant when she learned that the chef had made white truffle risotto with truffles shaved on top. It was her first mouthful.

"At $75 a plate U.S.," she says, "it was the most memorable thing ... I kept thinking cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching."

Cushing says that truffles have moved towards the mainstream in Toronto partly because of the Italian community.

It's also because the truffle has considerable range as an ingredient. Di Berardino sticks to traditional favourites and pairs the overpowering flavour of truffles with carpaccio, risotto, eggs, pasta or grilled wild game like boar, venison or buffalo.

White truffles are never cooked; they are always shaved thinly with a special truffle shaver, and black truffles are gently warmed. At Scaramouche, Froggett likes to serve truffles with other earthy flavours, mushrooms, root parsley, celeriac, potatoes, or roast chicken. In France, truffles wedged under the skin of capons are popular, says Cushing.

And they are becoming increasingly available. Pusateri's in Toronto sells truffles when they are in season (generally, starting in late fall). Last year they hovered between $6 and $10 a gram. They also sell preserved truffles year round that cost from $24.99 to $89.99.

Froggett calls them "a waste of time," however, and urges people to use the real thing.

While Whole Foods Market in Hazelton Lanes doesn't stock fresh truffles, it does have truffle oil, preserved truffles, truffle cream and truffle butter, among other products. Cushing advises using truffle oil when truffles are not in season and recommends adding a whisper of the oil to salad dressing.

Boutique Serenite in Yorkville stocks Terres de Truffes products, developed by Clement Bruno, a chef in Provence, and a friend of Alain Ducasse, world-renowned chef. It carries truffle olive oil and truffles when they are in season, plus a variety of truffle products.

So if you have yet to buy or try this upscale fungi, and if you don't mind emptying your pockets, you can easily satisfy your curiosity - and your hunger.