What is a truffle?
Truffles are the fruiting bodies of ectomycorrhizal fungi, which live on and around the roots of certain types of trees. Unlike other types of mushroom, truffles fruit below ground and produce strong chemical aromas that entice animals (such as pigs or dogs) to dig them up and eat them, thus dispersing the spores.
What kinds are there in New Zealand?
There are three kinds of truffle grown in New Zealand commercially: the black Périgord truffle, which is the second-most commercially valuable species in the world. We also have the black Summer and Burgundy truffles, as well as a white Italian variety, commonly called the Bianchetto white truffle (Tuber borchii), which is related to the trifola d’Alba Madonna (Tuber magnatum) – the most expensive truffle in the world.
Why try it?
The taste of truffles is famously hard to describe and Jax says each variety of truffle has its own specific taste. The Périgord truffle has an intensely rich, earthy, mineral aroma with hints of dried fruit, garlic and shallot.
The flavour has the same combination of sweet and savoury notes with hints of hazelnut, mint and forest mushroom. Essentially, the truffle enhances the flavour of foods: grate truffle over a steak and it becomes more meaty; eggs and butter are transformed into gourmet items.
In France, the Périgord truffle is often matched with red wines from Bordeaux (blends made from the likes of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot) or aged Burgundy (pinot noir).
How big can they get?
Jax says they’ve had a good-quality Périgord truffle that was 512g – but the bigger ones tend to rot faster. For home cooks, a truffle between 20g-50g is ideal.
Why are they so expensive?
In New Zealand, demand outstrips supply; they keep for two weeks at most and can’t be imported from the northern hemisphere. They need to breathe and sweat and can lose up to three per cent of their weight daily.
Jax says they clean and ship truffles the night of harvesting to send to restaurants. Truffles are also notoriously difficult to cultivate; the seedlings of the trees need to be infected with the spore and checked six months later to make sure the infection has taken.
Jax’s company, King’s Truffles, sells the infected trees, but they’re only about 20cm in height – so you’ll have a long wait for the trees to establish before you can even think about truffles.
Expect to pay around $3 plus GST per gram for the Périgord truffle.
Jax says home cooks will often throw a truffle-themed dinner party to spread out the cost or split a truffle between a group of people for infusion and flavouring.
The fun part
- When you’ve got your little lump of ‘black gold’ what do you do with it?
Never eat truffle straight out of the fridge, let it come to room temperature first. Ideally you’ll use your truffle in the first week, but they can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for 10 days–two weeks.
The easiest starting point is to place your truffle on a paper towel, then in a glass jar with an airtight lid (otherwise it will permeate your whole fridge). Place raw whole eggs in the shell inside the jar. Store in the fridge for a few days and you’ve got truffled eggs – they make the most amazing scrambled eggs you’ll ever eat – grate fresh truffle over the top of your eggs too, for an extra dose of decadence. Use the same method to infuse truffle flavour into chopped butter or rice.
Grate a small amount into some good-quality honey. Boil truffle slices gently in milk or cream and use the milk to make your own truffle ice cream. You can also use the flavoured milk and truffled rice to make stunning risotto.
Fruit such as apples and pears are also altered for the better when infused by truffle.
Take a good-quality soft cheese, like a brie or camembert, cut it in half horizontally and shave truffle slices into the middle then put back together and let it sit for two days, then eat it.
Cook a steak in a bit of truffle butter, then grate Périgord truffle over it while it is resting, and devour. Do the same with scallops, or carefully slip slices of truffle under the skin of a whole chicken before roasting.
Reduce a really good stock with some wine or liqueur and black truffles to create a rich sauce for fish or chicken.
Possibly the most expensive chocolate in the world, the La Madeline au Truffle, is a Périgord truffle surrounded by a ganache of Valrhona chocolate, cream, vanilla and truffle oil. Truffles clearly work well in desserts, too.
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