What Is A Truffle?

Truffles are one of the most rare, sought after and expensive culinary delicacies in the world.  Throughout history, they have resisted attempts at systematic cultivation and are searched out by truffle hunters, or, tartufai, and their trusty trained dogs, near the roots of special trees in secretly guarded forested locations in Europe and elsewhere.  Truffle hunting dogs have been trained to detect the pungent scent of the truffle.

The truffle itself is a type of funghi or mushroom which grows entirely underground.  It is part of the larger taxonomical genus of “tubers”.  Truffles rely upon animals which eat them to reproduce.  These animals injest the flesh of the truffle and distribute the truffle spores.  Truffles have a unique, symbiotic, relationship with the roots of their “host” trees, such as the oak and hazelnut tree.  The truffle and its host tree create a nutrient exchange with one another which allows both to grow.  The truffle takes necessary sugars from the roots of its nearby host tree—sugars which it cannot obtain by itself because it does not undergo photosynthesis. Likewise, the host tree obtains necessary nutrients from the soil through the truffle.

Truffles are rich in proteins and minerals like potassium, calcium and magnesium.  They are a wonderful “health-food,” and a source of various important nutrients.

Truffles prefer to grow in temperate climates and in soils high in clay and/or calcium content.  Their gestation period varies between 5 and 8 weeks, depending upon the type of truffle.  Also, the shape and size and flavor of each truffle varies as per the species of truffle and the particular environment within which each truffle grows.  They grow during various periods of the year, depending upon the type of truffle and the region in which they grow.

The truffle is almost impossible to detect underground via the human olfactory sense.  Because of this, pigs, which have a highly developed sense of smell, had been traditionally used to locate the truffle.  Pigs though generally eat truffles. Therefore, in the past 50 years or so, dogs which have a highly acute olfactory sense have been trained to locate the truffle.  The pungent aroma of truffles comes from their spores which are protected underground from the elements of the wind and the sun.  The truffle aroma suggests freshly tilled earth, garlic, honey, and various exotic spices from around the world.