They're rare, worth a fortune and depend on raw sex for their appeal. Tread carefully, says James Delingpole
Find yourself a decent truffle and you're quids in. A rare black Périgord willfetch as much as £1,300 a kilo. The even more rarefied Piedmont white variety - so delicate that it is only ever eaten raw - can make as much as £4,000. This moneymaking scam requires that you live in the right country: the "black diamond" (tuber melanosporum) is found in Spain, Italy and the Mediterranean regions of France; the "ivory princess" (tuber magnatum) is found in northern Italy and tiny parts of Croatia and Switzerland.
Are truffles really worth the effort? Most certainly, says Elisabeth Luard, who argues in her book Truffles: "No other substance in the gastronomic firmament, however fragrant or rare or exquisite or unobtainable, arouses such strong emotions." The secret is their pheromonal suggestion of raw sex - which is why they are famed as an aphrodisiac.
A truffle is a subterranean fungus with a fruiting body that develops on a mycelium, the fine web of filaments that bonds itself to the roots of certain trees and in the process forms small nodules. Luard says: "The texture in the mouth is velvety, firm, mealy when pressed between the teeth." When cut, the "surface is as smooth as silk, the colour of creamy coffee, with a delicate ivory veining".
Theo Randall, chef and expert on Piedmontese cuisine at the InterContinental in London, believes the best way to serve the superior white truffle is sliced thinly over taglierini pasta. At his restaurant the dish costs £21. "You must use a truffle grater - they sell them in Divertimenti and Conran shops - not a cheese grater, so that you can slice it thinly enough to ensure the aroma is properly distributed," he says. Sliced truffle also works well with polenta or risotto, he adds, or sliced and stuffed under the skin of a very good quality chicken.
Whichever truffle you set out to search for, you need luck, patience and familiarity with your truffle's habits, season and habitat. The Périgord black (December to March) prefers oak and lime trees; the Piedmont white (October to November) prefers poplar and hazel.
All need light, chalky soil. First, invest in a truffle pig or a truffle hound. Select a likely tree and look for balding moss in a root-wide radius. Once your animal goes crazy from the scent of the truffle, probe the ground on your knees - "like an experienced seducer might rummage in his lady-love's underpinnings", says Luard.
A truffle tuber, uneven and rough to the touch, confirms its presence by its smell, and a gigantic fresh black Perigord truffle can weigh 700 grams. Ideally, eat as soon as you’ve picked it.
A black truffle keeps two weeks at most.
A white truffle starts losing its flavour the moment you pick it and should be kept - in a glass jar - for no more than seven days.
