Site about white truffle of Alba and black truffles

~ The Truffle

~ Curiosity of the truffle

~ The white truffle of Alba

~ The varieties

Discover the varieties of truffle:

THE WITHE TRUFFLE

Tuber Magnatum Pico

The highly prized white truffle, (scientific name TUBER MAGNATUM PICO) is considered to be the truffle par excellence because of its noteworthy commercial importance. It is also known as the Truffle of Alba or of Piedmont because it is particularly abundant in this region but it is also found, to a much lesser extent, in some areas of Central Italy and in the South of France.

It takes its name from Alba but is present all over Piedmont in the Monferrato, Langhe and Roero districts and partly on the hills of Turin. It is of globular shaper with many depressions on the rind that make it irregular. The outer surface is smooth and slightly velvety.
The colour varies from pale ochre and dark cream to greenish. The flesh or gleba is unmistakable and is white or greyish yellow with thin white veins.

Its pleasantly fragrant aroma, different from the garlicky flavour of the other truffles, makes it unique. It lives in symbiosis with oaks, limes, poplars and willows and is seldom found together with other truffles. To grow and develop, the white truffle needs particular types of soil and equally particular climatic conditions.

The soil must be soft and humid for most of the year, it must be rich in calcium and well ventilated. Obviously not all soils are able to guarantee these characteristics and it is these environmental factors that make the white truffle a rare and highly-prized fruit of the earth. It is gathered from September to December.

THE BLACK TRUFFLE
Tuber macrosporum Vitt.

Globular, sometimes lobate in shape with a brown-black rind and tightly-spaced warts with a depression at their summit and lengthwise grooves.

The gleba or pulp is grey-brown or purplish-black in colour and marbled with thin white veins. The spores are spinulate. It may be as big or even bigger than a large apple.

It is gathered during the winter in particular at the beginning of the year especially under oaks, hazels and black hornbeams. It is found frequently in Italy and Spain but is gathered and appreciated in particular in France.

With its specific flavour and fragrant odour, it is highly appreciated for culinary purposes and is considered by the French as the best for this purpose and is therefore the most prized of the "black truffles".
It is eaten preferably after a short period of cooking. Certain writers have defined its aroma as "odour of slightly rotten strawberries". Other observations: "first of all very good, resembling the strawberry, it then becomes bitter, heavy, tart but not unpleasant" (Vittadini); "pleasant fragrant odour" (Mannozzi); "odor aromaticus specificus" (Ceruti); "typical and pleasant" (Montecchi); "intense aroma" (Pacioni).

THE BIANCHETTO TRUFFLE
Tuber borchii Vitt.

Globular in shape but often flattened and very irregular with pale yellow or pale grey rind or even ochreous with red-brown blotches, smooth or with a very fine down more readily found in the younger truffles.

The flesh is characterised by many clear highly branched veins and varies from a pale flesh colour to red-brown. The spores are reticulate. It may grow as large as a tennis ball but is usually the size of a walnut or hazelnut. It can be found all  year round but is gathered most frequently in the first months of the year under pines, larches, oaks, hazels, poplars. It is very common and has also been gathered in Australia, America and recently in China.

Its garlicky odour, sometimes particularly penetrating when it is ripe, tends to exclude it from the most prized species even though it is sold normally and, in view of its colour, also served dishonestly instead of its more renowned relation, the T. magnatum Pico.  The T. borchii may sometimes be confused with the T. maculatum Vitt., characterised by a particular odour and the T. foetidum Vitt. which has a strong nauseating odour.

THE WINTER TRUFFLE
Tuber brumale Vitt.

Usually globular or not very pronounced lobate shape with black or dark purplish rind and very tightly-spaced warts, clearly evident with a depression at the summit and lengthwise grooves.

The flesh is dark brown or blackish-grey with extensive white marbling. The spores are spinulate. Its size may exceed that of a hen's egg. It is found in the autumn and at the start of the winter under oaks and hazels. It is common throughout Central and Southern Europe.

Its aroma and flavour are quite strong but pleasant ( in particular in the moschatum Ferry variety) which means that it is often consumed  although it is appreciated far less than the T. melanosporum with which it is sometimes confused.

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