Truffle

“ A truffle hunt, though very interesting and amusing to witness, would appear monotonous in a description, and therefore it is sufficient for the encouragement of those who would like to see one, that, if they go out later in the autumn, they will doubtless have as good a day’s sport as I had on my second attempt, and will bring home in triumph truffles large enough and black enough to delight a French cook’s heart, although they will probably fail in discovering another “monster truffle.” ”

“ Not every holm oak has truffles on its roots. The finding of these delicacies is a very interesting and exciting game, and a great deal of a lottery. There is but one way to find them, and that is by the sense of smell. The truffle has a rich, strong odour. Dogs and pigs are the only animals that are able to find it. The truffle-hunter is usually an old woman, who goes with a trained pig or a trained dog into the oak forest. ”

“ Now let us talk about the truffle-hunting dog. [214] To any of you that may not know it already, I will first say that the truffle is a sort of mushroom always growing beneath the soil, more or less deep, never in the open air. In shape it is quite different from ordinary mushrooms. It is round and plump, varying in size from that of a walnut to that of a man’s fist, has a wrinkled surface, and its flesh is black, marbled with white. The truffle is the best liked of mushrooms, especially on account of its perfume. ”

“ There are few of Nature’s productions so extraordinary as this family of the fungi, and in no other country than our own are there so many varieties of the class to be seen, with their curious shapes, their beautiful colours, and their fairy-rings, springing up like magic after a night’s rain or a damp day. To this unsightly variety of the truffle may be applied all the customary characteristics of the more common kinds, for we find from the truffle-hunter that he instinctively looks for it close to the roots of large trees ”

“ It scents something. Good! It is a truffle. With much tail-wagging in evidence of its joy the dog burrows a little with its paw to indicate the place. Man continues the digging with an iron tool. But the truffle is not always unearthed at the first attempt; the search involves uncertainties and the following of false leads. ‘Let me look into this a little closer,’ says the dog to itself. And it pokes its muzzle into the very bottom of the hole, with sniffings that powder its nose with earth. ”

“ The surface, when the truffle is young, is whitish; but, in those that are full grown, it is either blackish or a deep-black. The color of the inside is whitish, with dark-blue and white, gray, reddish, light-brown or dark-brown veins, of the thickness of a horse-hair, which are usually variously entangled, and which form a kind of network, or mat. Between the veins are numerous cavities, filled with mucilage, and small, solid grains. These scarcely visible glands were formerly said to be the seeds, or germs, of the young truffles. ”

“ The fact is, that they should be delicately dealt with, like mushrooms; of which he who eats little is wise, and he who eats not of them at all is safe from blaming them for bringing on indigestion—as far as he is concerned.
The truffle is thus elaborately, yet not verbosely, described by Archimagirus Soyer: “The truffle is a very remarkable vegetable, which, without stems, roots, or fibres, grows of itself, isolated in the bosom of the earth, absorbing the nutritive juice. ”

“ The marvellous faculty possessed by him of going to the root of things is wantonly destroyed. He will never electrify us with another discovery, never present the epicurean world with another truffle. When I speak of the truffle, by the way, I no more allude to the usual dry chips of black leather of English dinner-tables than I should be referring to the London orange, if, with the memory of the glorious fruit of the gardens of Chio in my mind, I spoke of oranges. ”

“ The truffle is a subterranean fungus, invariably found under trees, often just appearing above the surface of the ground, and occasionally exposed for sale in our markets, where it will realize at times as much as 5s. per pound. The truffle is esteemed by many as the most delicious object of food in the whole vegetable kingdom, and by others it is looked upon with aversion or positive disgust. The odour is very powerful, and is relished by some individuals, and very much disliked by others. ”

“ Try again, and it will grow upon you,—again and again, and you will go crazy after the white truffle. I have seen persons, who had once turned up their noses at it, declare themselves capable of any crime to get at it. Nature gave it to Piedmont, "e poi ruppe la stampa." Gold you may find in different places, and under different latitudes;—the white truffle is an exclusive growth of Piedmont.
To return. If it is not the want of proper materials, or of taste to use them, what can be the cause of the unjust ostracism against buttered toast? ”

“ The mycelium does not produce truffles until after several years of vegetation. When it once begins to fructify and produce the truffle it continues to bear for many years. The truffle, like the mushroom, grows rapidly. At first, as has already been stated, it is nourished by the mycelium, but when this is exhausted it is nourished by absorbing the nutritious elements from the soil and air. When it reaches maturity and its spores are well formed the truffle acquires its maximum of aroma and palatability. ”

“ On they trudge, day after day, through parks, shrubberies, and woods. However privately and far from the beaten road the object of their search may grow, these trufflers have still the licence to hunt, accompanied by their small well-trained truffle-dogs. For though these men are both clever and quick in fixing upon the likeliest situations for the growth of the truffle, they would never succeed in finding them unless they had the help of this peculiar breed of dogs. In order to explain how the dog is enabled to hunt for the vegetable, I must first point out its most striking peculiarity. ”

“ Truf"fle (?; 277) , n. [OF. trufle, F. truffe; akin to Sp. trufa, tartufo; of uncertain origin; perhaps from L. tuber a tumor, knob, truffle. Cf. Tuber, Trifle.] Any one of several kinds of roundish, subterranean fungi, usually of a blackish color. The French truffle (Tuber melanosporum) and the English truffle (T. æstivum) are much esteemed as articles of food.
Truffle worm (Zoöl.) , the larva of a fly of the genus Leiodes, injurious to truffles. ”

“ The odour of T. aestivum is very strong and penetrating; it is generally esteemed powerfully fragrant, and its taste is considered agreeable. The common French truffle, T. melanosporum, is a winter species. It is a valuable article of commerce and is exported from France in great quantities. The tubers are globose, bright brown or black in colour, and rough with polygonal warts; the mature flesh is blackish grey, marbled within with white veins. It is gathered in autumn and winter in beech and oak woods, and is frequently seen in Italian markets. ”

“ The prize is swallowed, and the old man, forgetting all decorum, and only thinking of his loss, calls his companion a pig, which in France is always an insult. Our truffle-hunting to-day has opened badly, although one party thinks differently. In a few minutes, however, another truffle is found, and this time the old man delivers a whack on the nose at the right moment, and, seizing the fungus, hands it to me. Now he takes from his pocket a spike of maize, and, picking off a few grains, gives them to the pig to soothe her injured feelings, and encourage her to hunt again. ”

“ Suppress the breast-bones; fill the fowl with the above preparation, and cover the latter with a layer of mousseline forcemeat, reconstructing the bird naturally in so doing. Deck the surface with a crown of truffle slices; cover with buttered paper, and set in the oven (1) to poach the forcemeat, (2) to thoroughly heat the preparation beneath.
Dish the pullet; pour a little half-glaze sauce, flavoured with truffle essence and combined with slices of truffle, over the dish, and serve what remains of the sauce separately. ”

“ Take as many even large-sized truffles as ortolans; make a large round hole in the middle of each truffle, and put in it a little chicken forcemeat. Cut off the heads, necks, and feet of the birds, season with salt and pepper, and lay each bird on its back in one of the truffles. Arrange them in a stewpan, lay thin slices of bacon over them, pour over them some good stock, into which a gill of Madeira has been poured, and then simmer them very gently for twenty-five minutes. Dish the ortolans on toast, and strain the gravy over them. ”

“ Cultivation of Truffles. —The truffle may only be grown in the midst of very favorable conditions of climate, altitude, mellowness of the soil, moisture, and proper shade. The planting of truffle trees serves as a vehicle for the spores which are later to give birth to the mycelium which itself produces the truffle. The spores of the truffles usually reach the forests in which they are grown by natural means without being particularly planted. Sometimes, however, the spores are carried directly to the soil where the new crop is to be grown. ”

“ To discover it under the ground, sometimes several feet deep, sight is no guide, for nothing above reveals the presence of the precious tubercle. Scent alone will do the work. But however pronounced the aroma of the truffle may be, it is not strong enough for us to perceive it through a thick layer of earth; we must have recourse to the scent of an animal much better endowed in this respect than we. The aid invoked in these circumstances is frequently the pig, itself very fond of truffles and quick to discover them, guided merely by their odor. ”

“ There’s no chance of our poaching with them, as was said, for they have no nose for anything else, and are too small and weak for any game. You come with me and see a truffle-hunt, and you’ll soon see that they are a separate breed, just fit for truffling, and nothing else. ”

“ Darwin that all the mushrooms cooked at our tables, as well as those used for ketchup, possessed an animal flavour; and soup enriched with mushrooms only has sometimes been supposed to contain meat. It is certain that the truffle must possess, equally with other plants, organs of reproduction, yet, notwithstanding all the efforts of art and science, it has been impossible to subject it to a regular culture. Truffles grow at a considerable depth under the earth, never appearing on the surface. ”

“ Truffle-seed was usually imported from Megara, Lycia, and Getulia; but in Mytelene the inhabitants were spared this expense, their sandy shores being annually sown from the neighbouring coast by the winds and showers. It has been remarked, that neither truffles nor wild onions were found near the Hellespont. [1484]
What methods the ancients employed for discovering the truffle, which grows without stem or leaf in a small cell beneath the surface of the earth, I have nowhere seen explained. ”

“ The English slang expressions come from the wonderful stories which used to be told of the Norman archers, and more subsequently of Indians’ skill with the tomahawk.
Truffier, m., truffière, f. (popular) , fat person. An allusion to a pig used for finding truffles, and which is called truffier in certain parts of France. It appears that peasants, in order to discover an animal with a fine nose, go to the fair with a bit of truffle in their shoe, and they know a good truffle-finder at once, as he never fails to sniff at their heels. ”

“ C. Asci.
D. Spore.
Subterranean; ascophore irregularly globose, usually large, not rupturing.
To this family belongs the Truffle of commerce renowned for its flavoring qualities. It has not yet been found in America, though several fungi are ignorantly bought in our markets under that name; notably Coprinus comatus or maned mushroom. The writer has frequently been informed with all the logical force of genuine market-women that this was the real Truffle, because they raised it themselves.
Until quite recently but one species of Truffle has been reported as growing in America. ”

“ The truffle dog is treated in the same manner. Unless put into a pen, or chained at night, these truffle-hunters are likely to take to the woods and feast when no one is by to interfere with their pleasure. ”

“ It was around the yoke elm trees of Lampsachus, Acarnidea, Alopecomesia, and Elis, that those famous truffles were discovered, whose reputation was spread in all parts and which Italy envied Greece. [XXIII_94]
The truffle! beloved treasure that the earth conceals within her bosom—as she does the precious metals, which she seems to have yielded grudgingly to the patient researches of the gastronomist; the magiric records do not tell us at what memorable epoch this exquisite tubercle astonished, for the first time, the palate of man ”

“ Truffles exist also at Goodwood and in Highclere Park—in fact, pretty well everywhere where there are beech trees. The difficulty in obtaining them seems to lie in the paucity of truffle-hunting dogs, which, of course, have to be specially trained for their work. No doubt, were some easy means discovered of finding truffles, their excellences would become better known, and a home-grown delicacy, which is now almost overlooked, would take its proper place in public appreciation.
Crayfish are excellent eating, as I believe the Germans realised when they entered France in 1870. ”

“ It may be interesting here to state that the value of truffles is so great in Italy that precautions are taken against truffle poachers, much in the same way as against game poachers in England. They train their dogs so skilfully that, while they stand on the outside of the truffle grounds, the dogs go in and dig for the fungi. ”