TRIVIA The summer truffle or the tartufo estivo is mainly found in Italy, France and Spain. It has much less flavour and is much smaller than the black or white truffles by that token, it costs the least.

The gem of Italy, truffles, especially the highly sought after white variety are the pinnacle of gourmandise. Truffles form a key ingredient in local dishes in parts of northern Italy. In Piedmont and Umbria, the hearts of the truffle country, harvest season is a time of celebration for both truffle harvesters (known as trifolau) and the towns that host the ever-popular truffle festivals. A visit to this region in autumn will reward the traveller with culinary gold in the form of numerous regional specialties bejewelled with freshly shaved truffles, harvested the previous night or that very morning.

In my childhood, we were told stories of Jupiter, the Roman God of Light and the Sky. It was said that truffles grew wherever Lord Jupiter struck with his lightning bolt, though, later I found a much more scientific explanation for their existence. All types of truffles are related to mushrooms and are known as hypogenous fungi. Like mushrooms, truffles have a root-like structures but unlike mushrooms, truffles never emerge to the surface. Instead truffles are formed below the soil close to a tree's root systems and similar to Porcini mushrooms, they live off a nearby tree's nutrients. Once attached to a root, the fungus will produce one truffle per year, with each type of tree lending a distinctive aroma and flavour to the truffle.

The White Gold

WORTH THEIR WEIGHT IN GOLD Fresh truffles in many parts of Europe are often sold by the gram and shaved onto dishes right at a guest's table. The truffle is weighed before and after being shaved! The usual serving is 6-8 grams.

There are two major categories of truffles - the white and the black. If truffles are the royal family of gourmet foods, then the white truffle is the king. Found growing in stands of oak, willow or poplar, the white truffle is harvested from September to December. The cream of the crop comes from the Alba area. There is another white truffle hotspot in the Marche region near Aqualanga, which is not so well known outside Italy.

Black and Plentiful
The comparatively plentiful black truffle is largely found in Piedmont and as far south as Umbria. These truffles often have a wrinkly skin and range in size similar to the white truffle. The Umbrian variety of black truffle is harvested from November to March.

Scarce and Precious

TRIVIA Apart from Italy, truffles are found in other parts of Europe too. Switzerland is home to precious white truffles. The Perigord region of France is known for its black truffles. Yugoslavia has some rare varieties too.

Truffles smell earthy with notes of damp woods, a perfume like no other, permeating all the senses. The ancient Romans called it the "noble mushroom". Truffles take at least ten years to mature, have an incomparable flavour, cannot be artificially cultivated, are extremely scarce and take hours to find � leading to prices that can reach a whopping $1,000 per pound. Many a time, in an open trade market, one can witness truffles being sold for an extremely high price just because the trifolau gathered only six truffles that morning compared to the hundred and twenty-five that he had collected just a day before.

Hunting the Gold

TRIVIA The largest truffle was found in 1991 in Austria. It weighed 1.31 kilograms.

The hunt for truffles in Italy begins with the trifolau carefully guarding their secret areas. These areas are particularly discovered by experience and instinct. The trifolau uses dogs with a valuable, keen sense of smell to sniff out the invisible truffles from under the ground. They hunt under cover of darkness to keep competitors from discovering their secrets and to allow the dogs to best concentrate their sense of smell. Some even go so far as to use only dark-colored cars and dogs with dark coats to avoid discovery in the woods by competitors.

Truffles as an ingredient

TRIVIA The trifolau used pigs to locate truffles in earlier times. They now prefer dogs as their hunting companions as pigs eat up the truffles they find!! There is a third lesser-known method of locating truffles, which relies on a still smaller animal: the Suillia fly. This insect likes to lay its eggs above truffles, so if you can spot one flying close to the ground, it's a good bet there are truffles nearby.

I love to eat truffles raw, usually shaved directly over a dish with the special truffle grater. Truffles can lend their flavours and aromas to nearly anything including flour for pasta or bread and even sea salt. They are fantastic with risotto, eggs, pasta, or raw beef. I like to add truffles in numerous dishes, ranging from purees to pastes, dried pastas and sauces. Truffles provide the exotic twist to salads such as rocket, goat cheese and avocado. They can be added to starters like Carpaccio. Truffles are said to pair best with eggs. One of my favourites is eggs gently coddled, removed from their shell, drizzled with truffle oil and a little seasoning, whisked while still warm and served with truffles shaved right at your table - a "rich" breakfast! I strongly recommend that one should never use truffles with tomato sauce. Truffles and fish is not usually a good combination. Chillies are a big no! The delicate flavour of truffles should never be overpowered by the other ingredients in a preparation.My favourite truffle product is truffle infused olive oil. Both black and white truffles are frequently infused into extra virgin olive oil. Truffle oil is very delicate and is not used for cooking, instead it is drizzled on top of savoury dishes right before serving. Regardless of what you decide to add your truffle to, you can be sure to expect a unique flavour that is indescribably splendid and unforgettable.

STORING YOUR TRUFFLES The best way to store truffles is in a jar of risotto and placed in a refrigerator. Not only do they stay well but also an added benefit is the beautifully flavoured rice you are left with. But remember - they have a very short shelf life.

Whether eaten fresh over pasta or infused in an oil, the earthy goodness of truffles cannot be matched. The dedicated men, dogs and pigs that bring the world these delicacies should be venerated as heroes by gourmands everywhere.

Recipes

Method:

1. Flatten the tenderloin and place it on to the plate.
2. Apply the marinade of chopped celery, grated Parmesan cheese, lemon, olive oil, salt, crushed black pepper, chopped truffle and chopped anchovy.
3. Make a bouquet of rocket lettuce and black truffle shavings and place it in the middle.
4. Place juliennes of zucchini marinated in salt and olive oil over the bouquet.
5. Garnish with shavings of Parmesan.

Method:

1. Make puree of half the porcini mushroom.
2. Saut� the diced mushrooms, fresh tomatoes.

Season:

1. Mix porcini puree and stock to bring it to the right consistency and season it.
2. Put the blanched pasta and toss it with chopped truffles.

Method:

1. Clean the lamb rack, cut them into chops.
2. Crust them with chopped thyme and parsley.
3. Roast the capsicum and cut them into discs.
4. Layer the pepper disc with a roundel of semolina and mozzarella cheese.
5. Prepare celery sauce by cooking and pureeing the celery.
6. Prepare the tagliatelle of vegetables by cutting thinly sliced zucchini and carrot.
7. Cook the lamb rack, place it on the plate with timbale, tagliatelle of vegetables and drizzle with the celery sauce and a streak of balsamic.
8. Spoon in the puree of Porcini to the plate.
9. Place the pasta over it.
10. Garnish with thyme and truffle shavings.