What Are Truffles Used For?

What Are Truffles?

Welcome back to some more truffle talk. For those of us who aren’t as familiar with truffles, or even those of us who are, here’s a quick run down.

Where Do Truffles Come From?

Truffles are edible subterranean fungi that are found all over the world. Specifically, they appear in places like the Pacific Northwest of the United States (mainly Oregon), New Zealand, Australia, and even locations like the Middle East and Asia. While truffles are international, the most popular truffles today are from countries in Europe, such as Italy and France.

Most people who vaguely know of truffles may remember seeing the word truffle on a menu at an upscale restaurant or two. Their general luxury and price are mostly based on truffles’ rarity and short shelf life, in addition to the unique scent and flavor of truffles, making them a delicacy.

Their rarity is also partially due to how they grow. Truffles are subterranean fungi; meaning they grow underground, often nestled in tree roots. Their fruiting bodies lack a stem, so they need host trees to sustain themselves. This hides them from the human eye and makes them more difficult to find.

Truffle Hunting

Over the years, people developed methods of truffle hunting to find these delightful hidden gems.

There are many methods of truffle hunting, but the most reliable modes utilize female pigs or Lagotto Romagnolo dogs because they’re best suited to track the truffles’ pungent aroma. These animals sniff truffles out from beneath the roots of a host tree, helping humans gather enough truffles to feed our hearts' desires.

The truffles’ scent is similar to a certain pheromone known as androstenol, which many of the animals that hunt the fungus seem to recognize easily.

Without truffle hunters, we wouldn’t have so much access to the delicious edible fungi delicacy. Even worse, we wouldn’t be able to access the various different flavor profiles of this incredible delicacy!

What Are the Different Truffle Varieties?

If you’re looking to use truffles in your day-to-day cooking, you should be aware of the different types of truffles. Each type of truffle boasts a different background and vary in taste, scent, and color.

Nowadays, the most popularly consumed truffle varieties are black truffles, white truffles, and Burgundy truffles. Within these truffle varieties, there are also subvarieties that have their own unique features.

Black Truffles

When referring to black truffles, most people think of what you see in nice restaurants; the picturesque grated black truffle slices on top of a lovely dish like spaghetti. These black truffles are usually Périgord truffles, known sometimes as French black truffles and, in case you want to flex some multilingual truffle knowledge, they’re known in Latin as Tuber melanosporum.

As mentioned before, black truffles serve as an umbrella term, as there are many different species. Another type of black truffle is the Oregon black truffle — from none other than Oregon, USA.

Burgundy Truffles

What some may refer to as the black summer truffle is also known as the Burgundy truffle, and it varies from the Périgord truffle in quite a few ways.

Burgundy truffles, although sometimes referred to as a species of black truffles, are their own category of truffles and are unique in physical appearance. They’re multicolored and white on the inside with a black exterior. They also have a fancy Latin name  — they are known as Tuber aestivum.

White Truffles

White truffles, AKA Tuber magnatum, are native to the Piedmont region of Italy. As such, these Italian truffles are known as Piedmont truffles.

They’re also sometimes referred to by another of their many names: Alba truffles. Alba truffles are one of the most expensive truffles in the world, so if you’re really looking to flex, scoop up a few of these or find them mixed in something more affordable, like an oil or sauce.

How Are Truffles Used in Food?

If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to impart some truffle flavor to a dish, it’s simpler and more affordable to buy truffles in the form of truffle oils or sauces like our Spicy Mayo.

The possibilities are endless when it comes to what foods you can add truffles to. Here are some ideas for cooking with truffles.

Cooking with Truffles: Delicacies and Everyday Food

In general, most people think truffles can only be used as garnish for lavish foods. You’ll see the classic truffle as a topping on a spaghetti dish made with decadent cheese or on top of a luxurious seafood entrėe.

But what about the truffle recipes that don’t need a hefty price tag but are still just as delicious? Truffle products like sauces and oils are a great way to use truffles as an ingredient without worrying about your credit card charges.

Truffle Oil

Truffle oil is an easy, accessible way to add that fresh truffle taste to dishes without too much extra work.Though some companies artificially produce that truffle taste with chemicals, TRUFF uses real truffles along with olive oil to produce a truffle oil that tastes like you’re eating them fresh.

For those seeking naturally-made oils we recommend our classic Black Truffle Oil.

Other great ways to add a truffle flavor to your dishes include using truffle butter and truffle salt.

Truffle in Pasta

If you’re looking for something simple and ready to go for a dish, truffle pasta sauce is a great way to go.

Of course, we can’t forget the classic pairing of truffles in or on any pasta dish. Whether the truffle is used as a topping or in a sauce, truffle pasta is the height of luxury.

For a simple at-home alternative, truffle pasta sauce does all the work for you and tastes pretty darn good. Try something like this Black Truffle Pomodoro topped with some parmesan cheese for an easy, luxurious pasta.

Truffle in Food: A Summary

Overall, when it comes to truffles, you don’t have to limit yourself. The possibilities are endless. Whether you’re trying truffle risotto, truffles in soups, truffle ice cream, truffles with polenta — truffle everything.

Apart from their decadent taste, truffles are also rather good for your health. Yet another reason to incorporate this ingredient into your every day dishes.

Truffles for Health

Truffles aren’t just considered a delicacy because they’re so rare and delicious. Research has shown that consuming truffles can provide some helpful health benefits as well.

Truffles are rich in nutrients and provide a great deal of protein, carbs, fats, and amino acids. Furthermore, consuming truffles even offers anti-inflammatory and antibacterial benefitss among various other effects that can strengthen one’s immune system and physical wellbeing.

These effects come from the lengthy list of mineral properties and amino acids found in truffles. The presence of those amino acids means that truffles may also help improve your metabolism by aiding in digestion and various other bodily functions.

So, why truffles? They’re tasty, nutritious, and sometimes fancy — but only if you want them to be.

Truffles, Just Because

You can enjoy your truffles any way you want to. Whether they’re in the form of the fungi itself or you drizzle some truffle oil over popcorn for an indulgent movie night treat, live your life to the fullest and don’t forget to TRUFF it up.

Sources:

Potentials of Truffles in Nutritional and Medicinal Applications: A Review - PMC

An Overview on Truffle Aroma and Main Volatile Compounds - PMC

Lagotto Romagnolo Dog Breed Information - AKC