Good afternoon, my reader. There are many unique species among edible mushrooms. However, the rarest and most expensive among them is the truffle. This is a whole genus of mushrooms that are considered aphrodisiacs and delicacies, but which are extremely difficult to find.
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Truffle features
Truffles are a genus of underground marsupial mushrooms with round or tuberous fruiting bodies. Typically, a truffle is similar in size to a hazelnut or walnut; it is extremely rare to find a mushroom whose fruiting body resembles a potato.
In cooking, truffles are used to make sauces, pates, or baked goods. To taste, these mushrooms go well with fish, poultry or seafood, they can be an independent dish.
In addition to their unique taste, truffles are distinguished by a rich composition, which includes:
- vitamins of several types;
- vegetable proteins;
- antioxidants;
- carbohydrates;
- minerals and trace elements;
- dietary fiber.
Besides cooking, truffles are used in traditional medicine. Their juice helps to relieve the condition of the patient with gout, soothes the nerves. Moreover, the truffle stimulates the sex drive and serves as a very powerful aphrodisiac.
There are almost no contraindications for these mushrooms. They should not be eaten only by those who are allergic to mushrooms or penicillin. Also, you cannot eat withered and stored truffles.
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Truffles are not a species, but a whole genus of mushrooms. In total, biologists count almost a hundred species of them. The most common truffles are:
- Summer (aka summer black or summer Russian). The maximum size of mushrooms is up to 10 cm in diameter, the weight of a mature mushroom is up to 500 g. While the mushroom is ripe, it can be whitish, brownish gray. The older the fruit, the looser it is. The summer truffle tastes sweet with a bright nutty flavor. Has no clear smell.
- Winter. Its dimensions are up to 20 cm, the maximum weight is up to one and a half kilograms. The color is red-purple, as the truffle ripens, it turns black. Has a characteristic musky aroma.
- Black autumn. Weighs up to 300 g, maximum diameter up to 8 cm. It smells like cocoa and looks light brown like milk chocolate. The taste is bitter.
- Black Perigord. One of the rarest species, a true diamond among truffles. As it ripens, it darkens from reddish brown to black. The flesh of young specimens is pinkish; at maturity it becomes purple or almost black.
- White truffle. Dimensions - up to 12 cm, weighs no more than 300 g. It looks reddish yellow or brown (when mature). It smells like garlic cheese.
- Oregon white. Has a delicate herbal aroma, small size (no more than 8 cm) and weight (up to 350 g). The pulp is creamy brown.
- Red. Very small (no more than 4 cm in diameter, weight up to 80 g). The pulp is firm and red, the taste has a wine tint, the smell is similar to coconut oil.
Where do truffles grow and how are they harvested?
Truffles are underground mushrooms. They can only be found when digging up mycelium in forests where mushrooms of the corresponding species are found:
- In the Caucasus - black summer. Usually found in beech or oak forests, but in any case - in deciduous thickets. If you're lucky, black winter mushrooms can be found in those parts. They should be looked for in areas with limestone soil. Collection time is from January to March.
- Non-black earth (Moscow region, Tula, Smolensk or Oryol) are white. They are sought after from October to December. It is best to go fishing after October 15th.
Truffles can be found where the soil is gray-ashy, and herbaceous plants look slightly withered. A characteristic sign of the presence of these fungi is the accumulation of midges in the lowlands and above the tubercles, under which the mycelium develops.
Usually truffles are searched for with the help of trained dogs or pigs: animals clearly feel the characteristic smell of these mushrooms, which is inaccessible to humans. The best truffle hunters are pigs, but here a problem arises: it is very difficult to take away a found mushroom from a pig. Therefore, it is best to use dogs.
The found mushroom must be eaten or preserved in just 3-4 days after it is dug out of the ground. After that, it fades and becomes hazardous to health.
Do you know where truffles grow and how they are harvested?
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