What is a Truffle??

The French black truffle is considered the finest of the edible fungi and has a place in gastronomy alongside saffron, caviar, foie gras and the finest of wines. You can also get white truffle, they are similar but the black ones are the nicest one. They can cost from $1000 to $2000 it depends on how much they weight. Widely considered as the jewel of french cooking prized for its unique flavour and intoxicating aroma. the use of the french black truffle is limited ONLY by the imagination of the chef really. it is used as a flavouring ( similar to a herb) in a multitude of dishes such as veal, soup, fish, shellfish, game, rice and salads. The fact is that the most valuable property of the french black truffle is its capacity to flavour with its perfume any dish which its cooked in for the same time. You can also purchase truffle oil, which is good for anything.

* White Truffle

* Black Truffle

The French Black truffle has arrived from past grandeur. The ancient greeks and romans attributed therapeutic and aphrodisiac powers to them, qualities still in vogue last century. the black truffle has a fresh shelf life of only three weeks, after which there is a rapid deterioration in quality. Each year in france, a proportion of the total production is processed, however executive french chefs will only cook with the fresh product because most come in frozen to preserve the freshness of the truffle. the size varies from 2cm in diameter to the size of a grapefruit and is covered in black warts, its apprearance indicated nothing of its true value. the truffles are found from just below the soil surface to a depth of 20cm. specially trained dogs and pigs are used to search for truffle. be careful when u go search truffle with pigs, because sometimes the might EAT the truffle! German reseach has found that truffle contain a steroid similar to that, which is produce by male pigs during pre-mating behaviour. This steriod acts as a pheromone hence the attraction of female pig...horny PIGS!

At the moment coming up soon, in perth there is a truffle festival in mundaring. From 1 - 5 August 2007. I might go have a look... it depends if i have time to go! busy with work at the moment, but if anyone intrested checkout this website its all about the festival... http://www.mundaringtrufflefestival.com/. The event include free art exhibition inspired by fungi, olive oil tasting and truffle information semiar. A few cooking class will be showing, some chef come all the way from france and yea come along to discover something diffrent!