The Truffle Shuffle

Hunting for truffles in Rogne, Francehe Marche de Truffes takes place in Rognes, France, a small village outside of Aix-en-Provence, and is as wonderful a place as any to get your hands on the famed fungus, the black truffle. This annual festival, held the Sunday before Christmas, is a gastronomic marvel.

The streets are packed with local vendors hawking not only black truffles and their myriad of incarnations, such as truffle liqueur, but also foie gras, dried cepes, cognac, vin chaud (French mulled wine), vin cuit (dessert wine made from concentrated red wine), chestnuts, and fig confit.  By 10am the streets are filled with a quiet crowd whispering and shuffling as they eye the ruffled potato sacks full of black Perigord pearls and their proud truffle owners, the trufficulteurs.
 
Truffles are mainly found in Provence, Perigord and Burgundy, France.  The Italian white truffle, is said to be second in popularity. At a standard price of 1,000 Euro per kilo (it takes about 40 years for a wild oak tree to grow to the point where a truffle can be created), accompanied by legends of truffle-doctoring, the choice of the truffle purveyor is paramount. Not knowing much, we wandered up and down the market, eavesdropping on the conversations of the locals, and sniffing our way through the mink coats, the roasting chestnuts, the 50 Euro bills in the air and of course, the earthy truffles.  Once we felt ready, we plunged into the inner circle of the crowd to begin the truffle negotiation and emerged with two truffles totaling 60g.  Despite the general wisdom that "truffles are only really good after Christmas (Grimod de La Reyniere), in Rognes it is tradition to partake in the truffle menus in the local restaurants after the market.  Diners leave happily from mass truffle consumption despite said advice.  But we instead, opted for homemade truffle pasta.
 
Menu at a local restaurantAnd so we enter the realm of truffle preparation.  "The Egyptians ate truffles coated in goose fat and cooked en papillote (in parchment).  The ancient Greeks and Romans attributed therapeutic and aphrodisiac powers to them: the latter quality was still recognized in the 19th century when Alexandre Dumas wrote, ‘They can, on certain occasions, make women more tender and men more lovable."  Traditional French gastronomy suggests truffled chicken (created by inserting truffle slices, or whole truffles, beneath the skin before roasting), truffle-foie gras terrine, and truffle salad.  I prefer the simpler truffle preparations: truffle pasta, truffle risotto and any egg dish accompanied with truffles!  Whatever dish you endeavor, just be sure you allow enough cooking time for the truffle flavor to come through. With such a strong, pungent flavor, a little bit of truffle goes a long way.

There is no minimum or maximum truffle amount required, and as a home cook, simply adjust and follow your own tastes, budget and availability.  Beginning with the truffle itself, it is best to slice the fungus as thinly as possible to allow the maximum release of truffle-ness.  While some will have you believe that you need a "coupe truffe," a specific truffle mandoline, the standard vegetable peeler will work.  Truffles can also be finely chopped or sliced thinly into slivers, but I prefer to leave whole slices for presentation.

Novice cooking with truffles:

Pasta: boil fresh egg pasta (I prefer wide varietals like pappardelle or tagliatelle). Meanwhile, melt a generous amount of butter and sauté the truffle slices gently over low heat.  Remove a few slices for presentation and toss the cooked pasta with the remaining truffles and butter.  Top with the truffle slices previously set aside.

Risotto: Follow any wild mushroom recipe you prefer adding the truffle slivers to the mix after the final broth addition and about 10 minutes before serving.  For the presentation, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with truffle slices.

Egg dishes: Seal the truffle in an airtight container with eggs overnight (the fragrance of the truffle will permeate any food held with it in an airtight container). Then boil, scramble or make an omelette with these magically truffle-infused gems.  The truffles actually infuse their goodness into the eggs.

- Brynn Taylor Smedra