In Oregon, Truffles Are No Match for Wet Noses... :-D

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

I thought that this article in the NY Times on US Truffles from Oregan would be very interesting.

By Nick Czap - Published on 7 Aug 12

"The forest air was cool and the light translucently green, sifted through the Douglas-fir canopy above and refracted by plumes of sword ferns that sprang from the forest floor. There was a muffled galumphing, a blur of golden fur, and then another, as Sasha and Ashleigh, two golden retrievers, bounded by off-leash in a kind of dog nirvana, followed closely by their owners, Kim Hickey and Erik Campen.

Recent graduates of NW Truffle Dogs, a school in Oregon City, Ore., the four were fast becoming adroit hunters of Oregon truffles, native fungi that are among the Pacific Northwest’s most prized delicacies. The dogs and their owners are also pioneers of a sort, foragers at the forefront of a movement that seeks to improve the reputation of Oregon truffles, and their value in the market, by changing the way they are harvested.

As Sasha and Ashleigh raced along, noses to the ground, in these woods, about 20 miles south of Portland, Ms. Hickey watched intently. But something in the dogs’ postures told her they were following the scent of an animal, the footfalls of a squirrel or a chipmunk. "They’re crittering", Ms. Hickey said.


Sasha, foreground, found an Oregon black truffle for her owners, Erik Campen and Kim Hickey.

Oregon is home to four known culinary truffles: Leucangium carthusianum, the Oregon black truffle; Tuber oregonense, the Oregon winter white; Tuber gibbosum, the Oregon spring white; and Kalapuya brunnea, the relatively rare Oregon brown truffle.

Harvesting the fungi, which grow beneath the forest’s mulch layer or several inches of soil, is labor intensive, a fact reflected in a retail price of about $400 a pound. Still, that is considerably less than the going rate for truffles from places like Alba, Italy, and Périgord, France, which this year commanded $4,000 and $1,600 a pound, respectively.

While European truffles have been harvested on a significant scale since the 19th century, Oregon’s truffle harvest is a relatively recent phenomenon. The industry had only just begun to germinate in 1977 when James Beard gave it a boost, declaring at a mushroom symposium that Oregon white truffles were as good as their Italian counterparts.

But the harvests in Europe and Oregon differ in another, significant respect. European foragers use dogs or pigs trained to sniff out ripe truffles, ensuring a crop of uniformly high quality; Italian law mandates the use of dogs. Most commercial foragers in Oregon harvest the fungi by raking, a method that gathers both mature and immature truffles. The problem is amplified when foragers try to beat competitors by raking for truffles progressively earlier in the growing season".


Truffles at a market in Portland.

Read More: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/08/di...tml?ref=dining

"Whoever says [and hunts] truffles, utters a grand word...which awakens gastronomic ideas." Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

[BobS]

I am not a truffle expert, but I can tell you that I have tried the Oregon, black truffels and they were great. What I needed for one cook cost $19, so not bad for special occasions.

[saf]

Does anyone know where to order some?

[Oregoneon]

oregon truffles are great. I usually get a few each year when they start showing up in the market in late fall. They are pretty reasonably priced as well, under $10 for quarter sized black truffle.

I made black truffle mac and cheese for a christmas dinner a few years ago, now people ask for it every year, it's become a bit of a tradition.

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

Does anyone know where to order some?

Saf:
You can order some from here;

Read More: http://www.truffletree.com/

"Whoever says [and hunts] truffles, utters a grand word...which awakens gastronomic ideas." Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

oregon truffles are great. I usually get a few each year when they start showing up in the market in late fall. They are pretty reasonably priced as well, under $10 for quarter sized black truffle.

I made black truffle mac and cheese for a christmas dinner a few years ago, now people ask for it every year, it's become a bit of a tradition.

Can you post a receipe for you're black truffle mac and cheese (sounds too good to be true...I'm in culinary heaven!!!)?

"Every morning one must start from scratch, with nothing on the stoves. That is cuisine". Chef Fernand Point

[Alacrity59]

I'll second that request. Please do post the black truffle mac n cheese recipe.

[nole1]

Saf:
You can order some from here;

Read More: http://www.truffletree.com/

Maybe I'm missing something but all it shows is where you can order seedlings. Not truffles themselves.

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

Maybe I'm missing something but all it shows is where you can order seedlings. Not truffles themselves.

Brad:
Opps...sorry my bag...here you go.

Read More: http://oregonmushrooms.rtrk.com/?scid=406053&kw=3733887
"[Truffles]...in great quantity, madame. In great quantity." Curnonsky (Maurice Edmond Sailland), French writer (1872-1956)

[Indigo3]

It doesn't take much to infuse a bottle of olive oil and use that heady scent all year round.

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

It doesn't take much to infuse a bottle of olive oil and use that heady scent all year round.

Indigo:
Infuse with truffles I presume...correct?

"Whoever [uses] truffles...awakens gastronomic ideas." Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

[Indigo3]

Indigo:
Infuse with truffles I presume...correct?

"Whoever [uses] truffles...awakens gastronomic ideas." Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Yes sorry my Uncle is a Italian restauranteur and he'll make a 1/2 gallon of truffle oil at a time during the season by shredding a few small truffles into olive oil, it doesn't take much for the oil to become pungently infused as well as a great way of fully utilizing the truffle. Wild mushroom risotto with truffle is one of the restaurants popular dishes where the dish starts and gets finished with truffle oil + butter. For some special egg dishes he keeps the eggs and truffle enclosed together in a container for a few days so the eggs get infused through their shells...makes incredible scrambled eggs or omelettes.

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

Yes sorry my Uncle is a Italian restauranteur and he'll make a 1/2 gallon of truffle oil at a time during the season by shredding a few small truffles into olive oil, it doesn't take much for the oil to become pungently infused as well as a great way of fully utilizing the truffle. Wild mushroom risotto with truffle is one of the restaurants popular dishes where the dish starts and gets finished with truffle oil + butter. For some special egg dishes he keeps the eggs and truffle enclosed together in a container for a few days so the eggs get infused through their shells...makes incredible scrambled eggs or omelettes.

Indigo:
Wow, that's real awesome (the Mrs. and I love cooking with our home-infused truffel oil),...now I'm getting really hungry.

Thanx for the info and for sharing.

"The truffle is among the world’s most obsure and mysterious foods". CBJ

[Oregoneon]

Can you post a receipe for you're black truffle mac and cheese (sounds too good to be true...I'm in culinary heaven!!!)?

"Every morning one must start from scratch, with nothing on the stoves. That is cuisine". Chef Fernand Point

here ya go
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/128353.../#.UDRZ4t1lQvk

i do it pretty much as written, except all in one dish and use most of one big truffle in the cream sauce and the rest mixed in towards the end, also i usually up the cheese and use a little less cognac (but don't leave it out, it adds great flavor). It's as good as it sounds

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

here ya go
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/128353.../#.UDRZ4t1lQvk

i do it pretty much as written, except all in one dish and use most of one big truffle in the cream sauce and the rest mixed in towards the end, also i usually up the cheese and use a little less cognac (but don't leave it out, it adds great flavor). It's as good as it sounds

Oh man...thanx for this receipe...it's a keeper.

"The truffle is among the world’s most obsure and mysterious foods". CBJ