DavidoffCooking with trufflesTo enjoy the wonderfulness of the variously described pleasure of dining on truffles, you must eat fresh, uncooked specimens shortly after they have been harvested, because the flavor compounds are highly volatile. Remove any soil from truffles just before eating. They must be washed with water and brushed. The outside must be immaculate since they will be used unpeeled. Dry with a paper towel. The fungus is scraped or grated onto food and into sauces and soups just before eating. Truffle slicers have been especially designed for this purpose. Crumbled into scrambled eggs, sliced over a fondue, shaved on risotto, slivered with the delicate white meat of quail or sprinkled over a wild mushroom sauce for steak, it can transform the merely good into the sublime with the subtle but potent culinary alchemy that is the hallmark of this underground treasure. Here are some tested culinary matches in recipes for truffle varieties: Download (pdf) pasta, eggs, butter, cream, white meat poultry (chicken, quail, Cornish hens), walnuts, risotto, Parmesan, Asiago and Romano cheese, frisee and other mildly bitter greens, white balsamic vinegar in a salad, bresaola or other cured meats such as prosciutto, potatoes and other gratin dishes, pate, rabbit, aged wild boar (matches the pheromonal content in the meat very nicely). Shaved raw, never cooked, and use the oil at the last minute and not in the cooking as heat destroys the aromatic compounds. The pungent odor of a truffle will penetrate the shells of eggs and flavor kernels of rice when stored with them in a closed airtight glass jar placed in a refrigerator (24 to 48 hours). Once the prize truffle has been consumed, the eggs may be enjoyed in an omelette and the rice in pilaf. Finely grate a fresh truffle and add to softened unsalted butter in proportions to suit your taste. Use enough butter so that the mixture is spreadable and not crumbly. Let stand at room temperature for an hour. Spread on crackers, French bread, or baked potatoes. Truffle butter freezes well. |