Truffles

[Tiresias]

This might amuse you Adrian. I know you are fond of your truffles. 1890s cook book, but most internal reference is a decade or two earlier. How about this for your discerning guests: My emphasis.

À l’Enfant Prodigue.—Get a couple of lobsters, and cut them down the back, leaving the shell of the heads intact; remove the non-edible portions and break the claws. Put the whole into a stewpan with a bottle of champagne (sweet champagne will do), 4 spoonfuls fine salad oil, 3 cloves of garlic, a sprig of basil, and a lemon (sliced and freed from peel and pips), salt, pepper, chervil, parsley, a few mushrooms, and 2 lb. truffles (whole). When done, take out the sweet herbs, cut off the heads of the lobsters, place them erect in the middle of the dish, and dispose the other pieces around. Impale the truffles on the antennæ of the lobsters, pour the sauce over, and above all, serve Clos de Vougeôt, Chambertin, or Côte Rôtie with this dish.

Now I would reckon that inedible. Prodigal indeed. Typo, or a different truffle? Too rich foh ma blud.

 

[AJB Temple]

Wow. That is crazy. That son would have to be very prodigal. 2lb of truffles is around 900 grams, so even for cheapish black winter truffles that would be over £700 today (wholesale). I wonder if they meant something else by truffle, since the method seems to make little good use of them? Oddly enough we have just done our Valentines day menu for a handful of lucky couples and that includes a lobster starter and truffles for anyone choosing the chicken option on the main. But it will be a couple of fine slices or a modest grating not a whole one

 

[Chris152]

I've never tried one, but a farm shop nearby has a very large field growing domestic broadleaf trees which, once mature enough, will have the fungus introduced to their roots. And then, one dark night, with my pet pig in hand... (yes, I've read a Year in Provence - or was that a dog?)

 

[Tiresias]

A dog for preference I believe. A dpg will track the scent, and then be happy with a bit of cheese or saucisson as reward, whereas a pig is really (no, really) interested in eating the truffle. They were at one point using miniature pigs to truffle hunt. As a normal size pig is a bit difficult to control… Sows better than boars I am told.

And that exhausts my knowledge of truffle hunting. Gained second hand from the proprietor of an Italian restaurant in Brussels (we go there 4 or 5 times a year for business purposes. And no, we are not arms dealers, although I have heard that an End User Certificate is easier to get in Belgium than some other places).

As far as I am concerned, truffles come preserved from Souschef or the like. In little bottles. Apparently they are now trying to cultivate them in Thailand and China. I’d be a bit wary of those.