THE TRUFFLE

The truffle is the real king of Piedmontese cuisine. As rare as it is pungent, this small tuber is capable of sparking off a real "gold rush", which is not only metaphorical in view of its cost. Every Autumn, in the Langhe, Monferrato and Roero hills, the "trifôlaô", or truffle hunters, and their dogs (the real hunters) take to the paths between poplars and lime trees, and along slopes covered with oak and willow trees looking for the underground "nugget" which will then reign on the dining table, in recipes that exalt its aroma and taste. The best and most valuable is certainly the white truffle from Alba, but several types can be found in the hills of Southern Piedmont.

The discovery of the truffle can be dated: the first written records that mention its use and sale date back two thousand years, to Roman times. Gioacchino Rossini called it the “Mozart of mushrooms” and Byron kept one on his desk because it fed his imagination.

What is it?
It is a hypogean or underground mushroom which belongs to the Ascomycetes class, order tuberales, family tuberacee, genus tuber. There are numerous species: the Magnatum Pico (white truffle), Melanosporum Vit (black truffle), Albidum, Aestivum and Brumale (Winter truffle).

Like all mushrooms, the truffle's roots are a voluminous and very ramified mass of white filaments (known as hyphas). The fruit, in the form of a tuber, is a fleshy mass, known as a "glebe", covered with a tough skin known as the "peridium". The structural and chromatic characteristics of these parts make identifying the type of truffle very easy.

The white Alba truffle can vary in colour, depending on the plant on whose roots it grows: from white with occasional pink veining, to grey tending to brown. After its formation, the truffle becomes a true parasite, sucking the sap that the plant's roots extract from the ground, the source of its perfume, taste and colour. The truffles with the most persistent odour which keep best are those that grow in contact with oak trees, while the most aromatic and lightest in colour grow on lime trees.

The soil obviously has to be suitable: the best is limestone or clay with some silica. Altitude is also important: they are very rare above 600-700 metres. The season extends from late August to January and each root usually produces one truffle per year.

The truffle in the kitchen
In the Monferrato and Langhe hills, truffles are used raw, cut into thin slices to decorate certain recipes: from a salad of "ovuli" or porcini mushrooms embellished with truffles, to a "parmigiana" with alternate layers of truffle, celery and thin slices of Parmesan. But there are plenty of other dishes in which the truffle reigns supreme, setting free its unique aroma: a salad of minced raw veal, "tajarin" fresh pasta, fondue, a fried egg, prosciutto, grilled fillet, veal cutlets in butter, or tagliata (julienne minute steak) with herbs, on delicate or perfectly ripened cheese, or alone, with a drizzle of extravirgin olive oil.

The major Truffle Fairs in Piedmont

• National Truffle Fair of Alba (Cuneo)
  The truffle fair par excellence, the fair of the White Alba Truffle, the best and most expensive in the world. In November the streets of the town fill with stalls, but the heart of the event is the courtyard where the truffle market is held, and where the "trifolai" sell their own treasures.
• Regional Truffle Fair of Asti
  It may not be as famous as the Alba Fair, but this fair, which takes over Piazza San Secondo in October is second to none. You can taste the truffles, but more than anything you can buy them.
• Truffle Fair of Acqui Terme (Alessandria)
  One of the most interesting truffle fairs in Eastern Piedmont: on the third Sunday in November you can taste, eat, drink and buy.
• Worldwide White Truffle Auction of Grinzane Cavour (Cuneo)
  If it is not the most representative event, it is certainly the most glamorous. In November, in the castle where conte Camillo Benso di Cavour once lived, a charity auction is held – it is even broadcast live to the United States by satellite link – during which international stars, from Robert De Niro to Sharon Stone, compete for the largest truffles.

(Courtesy of http://www.regione.piemonte.it/)