Information needed about truffles....(gourmet not chocolate)?!


Question:

Information needed about truffles....(gourmet not chocolate)?

I would like to try truffles....
What are they like.
Can you recommend any recipes.
Where to buy them?
Many Thanks


Answers:
About:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/tuber_%28ge...
Recipes:
http://whatscookingamerica.net/mushroomr...
Shop:
http://www.gourmetfoodstore.com/truffles...

Enjoy !

Truffles are fungus that grow wild in Italy.
I don't know where you can buy them, but I would love to try them too. I know that truffle oil is readily available at Fresh Market and finer grocery markets.

http://www2.mailordercentral.com/fungi/p...

http://www2.mailordercentral.com/fungi/p...

http://www.allfinefoods.com/truffles/ind...

BLACK TRUFFLE SAUCE
Gourmet, October 2002
This recipe is an accompaniment for Crown of Shrimp with Truffle Sauce.
Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 1 3/4 hr
Makes about 2 cups.
1 leek (white and pale green parts only), finely chopped
1 3/4 cups finely chopped shallot (10 oz)
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 cups dry white wine
2 large fresh thyme sprigs
1 1/4 oz preserved black truffles (preferably winter truffles), finely chopped
4 cups chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth
4 cups heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon black or white truffle oil, or to taste preparation
Wash chopped leek in a bowl of cold water, then lift out and drain (do not pat dry). Steam leek, shallot, and garlic (in any water clinging to leeks) in a 4-quart heavy saucepan, covered, over low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 6 minutes. Add wine, thyme, and truffles and boil, uncovered, until most of liquid is evaporated, about 12 minutes.
Add stock and boil until reduced to about 2 cups, about 25 minutes. Stir in cream and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced to about 2 3/4 cups, about 40 minutes. Pour mixture through a fine sieve into another saucepan, pressing on and discarding solids. Whisk in truffle oil and season with salt and pepper.
Cooks' notes:
? Sauce can be made 2 days ahead and chilled, covered. Reheat over low heat, stirring.
? Freeze any remaining sauce for another use.

CHICKEN WITH TRUFFLES, WILD MUSHROOMS AND POTATOES
Bon Appétit, January 2000
Le Cirque's elegant take on roast chicken.
Makes 4 servings.
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound chicken wings
4 shallots, sliced
1 cup dry white wine
4 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
1 6- to 7-pound roasting chicken
8 fresh thyme sprigs
6 garlic cloves
12 slices black truffle or 2 teaspoons black truffle sauce*
2 teaspoons white truffle oil**

1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut into ?-inch pieces
1 pound shiitake mushrooms, stemmed
3 thick bacon slices, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup frozen peas, thawed

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
preparation
Chicken with Truffles, Wild Mushrooms and Potatoes Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add chicken wings; brown well, stirring often, about 20 minutes. Add shallots; saut? 4 minutes. Add wine; bring to boil. Add broth; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until liquid is reduced to 2 cups, about 25 minutes. Strain sauce into medium saucepan. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill.)
Preheat oven to 450°F. Sprinkle roasting chicken inside and out with salt and pepper. Place thyme and garlic in cavity. Run fingers between skin and meat on breast to loosen. Arrange truffle slices under skin or spread truffle sauce under skin. Rub 1 teaspoon truffle oil over skin. Place chicken in roasting pan.
Toss potatoes, mushrooms, bacon and 2 tablespoons olive oil in large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spoon mixture around chicken. Roast chicken until juices run clear when thickest part of thigh is pierced, stirring vegetables occasionally, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Transfer chicken to platter. Mix peas into vegetable mixture; stir to heat through.
Bring sauce to simmer. Reduce heat to low. Add 1 teaspoon truffle oil, then butter and whisk just until butter melts. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon vegetables onto plates. Serve with chicken and sauce.

very, very, expensive, and you either like it or you don't. before you go out buying them and cooking with them, i suggest going to a nice restaurant and ordering a dish that features them. otherwise you risk spending a boatload of money buying them and either ruining them, or not liking them.

******************************...
Because of their high price and their pungent taste, truffles are used sparingly. Supplies can be found commercially as unadulterated fresh produce or preserved, typically in a light brine.

White truffles are generally served uncooked and shaved over steaming buttered pasta or salads. White or black paper-thin truffle slices may be inserted into meats, under the skins of roasted fowl, in foie gras preparations, in patés, or in stuffings. Some specialty cheeses contain truffles as well.

The flavor of black truffles is far less pungent and more refined than that of their white cousins. It is reminiscent of fresh earth and mushrooms, and when fresh, their scent fills a room almost instantly.

Truffle oil is often used as a lower-cost substitute for truffles to provide flavoring, or to enhance the flavor and aroma of truffles in cooking. However, most truffle oil is a synthetic product that contains no actual truffles.

******************************...
Fresh winter truffles from Europe are actually less expensive this year than last, when a heatwave devastated harvests. But they are still much more costly than they were two years ago. Restaurants will pay some $1600/US to $1800/US for a pound of white Alba truffles from Italy and some $US600 to $800/US for a pound of black truffles from France.

Trader Joe's and Whole Foods carry them, but they are very expensive.

If you do not have a gourmet store near you, you can order them online ( http://www.markys.com/caviar/customer/ho... ). They are Delicious! Use them in anything you would use Mushrooms in, but use less. They have a very strong taste.

it is hard to describe the earthy complex taste of truffles. Sort of in the family of mushrooms but that is more misleading than helpful. There are both white and black truffles and they have different seasons.

The best way to have them is the simplest. Paper thin slices over pasta tossed in butter or folded into an omelet just as you remove it from the heat are two classic ways. You never cook truffles.

Look to gourmet shops for truffles. They are seasonal. They must be fresh. You need to use them quickly. They are of course very expensive this way. To get a sense of the taste you might buy a product like truffle oil or butter that has small amounts of truffle. Good starting point.

Truffles are found in the South West of France. They are very expensive and generally you need a pig who guides you to the place where truffles are growing, generally they grow underground and have to be dug.
The best way to have them is in omlettes, that is how French have them.

A truffle is Any of various fleshy, ascomycetous, edible fungi, chiefly of the genus Tuber, that grow underground on or near the roots of trees and are valued as a delicacy.

they are very unique in taste.

Try shopping online at a gormet shop or even try a local gormet store like whole foods, traders joes or wild oats.

They are grown in the south of France, and are found by using pig which sniff them out, you can purchase them from Harrods, they are very expensive

To the best of my knowledge I have never eaten truffles, but as children we would dig up some small tubers we called Pig Nuts and they were delicious. I often wonder if they were an english truffle, and if I could find them again, must have a try, I know the field they were in..........................




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