Truffles - I want to try them!
 

Has anyone tried these? I am really wanting to get some... $400 to $800 a lbs?!!? Gotta be a way to get some cheaper!

A truffle is the fruiting body of an underground mushroom; spore dispersal is accomplished through fungivores, animals that eat fungi. Almost all truffles are ectomycorrhizal and are therefore usually found in close association with trees.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truffle_(fungus)
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z...r-Truffles.jpg

Re: Truffles - I want to try them!
 

naw just try the chocolate ones.

Re: Truffles - I want to try them!
 

I have already eaten the chocolate ones... Lol!

I have spent several hrs studying the fungi and watching hogs and dogs hunt them. I am fascinated!

Re: Truffles - I want to try them!
 

Get you a hog, or find a farmer that hunts them. Probably cheaper that way. :D

Re: Truffles - I want to try them!
 

Yo Ferdmiester!! As our resident AFF chefster. want your opinion on the Truffels, please!

Re: Truffles - I want to try them!
 

yes they are awesome! you can get some idea of the flavor by buying Truffel flavored olive oil. much less expensive.

interestingly enough, Truffels have traditionally only been found in northern Italy and France (and some surrounding regions)

however they are now being cultivated in different places. I actually checked into this last year. What I found was that my land is too far south for growing Truffels. However if you have land in Arkansa or Missouri or some areas around that zone, you might be able to buy trees that have been innoculated.


Here is a link to a company (If memeory serves this is the group connected to the University of Oregon.

http://www.truffletree.com/

Re: Truffles - I want to try them!
 

Also, there is an indigenous North American truffle called the Pecan Truffle. It is native to America and found near Pecan trees… hence the name…

It grows in the south so if you have land in the south, and you are interested that might be an option. The market for these has not really developed yet but I think in the next 10 years, it very well might take off as the “Eat Local” movement takes off and this is a new potential gourmet food item. I really think southern chef’s will go nuts for this if they become available with some consistency.

Re: Truffles - I want to try them!
 

Thank you Ferd!! I have learned the University of Missouri is in a pilot Truffle project about an hour away from my house. Seems there has been some limited success in creating the right conditions and "plugging" the soil.


I can't wait. I am looking for a source to try these babies!

Re: Truffles - I want to try them!
 

If I lived where you lived, and had some land, I would be planting innoculated trees!

Re: Truffles - I want to try them!
 

...back when I was backslid and had a whole bunch more money, and was able to go to the types of restaurants that use these, I had a risotto that had them in it and it was amazing... Absolutely wonderful....