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ENLARGE
Raini Rippy
The holidays have passed, and many of you enjoyed a few truffles during that time. Were they chocolate and packaged in fancy wrappers or were they dug from the earth and full of spores? That’s right — spores.
Real truffles are the “fruit” of a fungus growing in the soil. Basically, they’re like underground mushrooms. Truffles are round, gnarled and potato-like in appearance and pea to golf ball-sized, though some can be larger.
These fungi are considered a culinary delight and are quite expensive because of the difficulty in locating them. Italian white and French black truffles are considered the great culinary truffles of the world. Truffles have a pungent taste and are used sparingly as a flavoring in dishes like pasta, meat and stuffing. Truffle-flavored oil is sometimes substituted because of its lower cost. White truffles in Europe can sell for $1,000 to $2,000 per pound! The record price for a single white truffle was $330,000 for a 3-pound specimen in December of 2007.
There are a few truffle species in the West. The Oregon white truffle can be found growing under young to early-mature Douglas fir trees, particularly in the Willamette Valley. This truffle isn’t as valuable as its European cousin, but can still sell for more than $100 per pound.
Most truffles are found within inches of the soil surface near the interface between the forest litter layer and the mineral soil.
Because of its subterranean nature, the truffle depends on animals to consume it to disperse its spores. These fungi produce an aroma that attracts animals. As the truffle becomes more mature, the smell intensifies, making it more likely animals will find it after the spores are ready.
In addition to providing a food source, most truffle-forming fungi have an important ecological role. These fungi form symbiotic relationships with plants in which the fungus aids the plants with acquisition of water, minerals, and other nutrients from the soil, while the plant provides the fungus with sugars created through photosynthesis. Fungi that form symbiotic relationships with plant roots are known as mycorrhizae. Did you know that 100 meters of fungal hyphae can be found in a single teaspoon of healthy forest soil?
How do you locate these underground treasures? Truffle hunting has long been a secretive and mysterious business. Truffles have been collected for thousands of years.
Pigs were once the preferred mechanism for finding truffles, but they often consumed them as quickly as they found them. Dogs have gained popularity, even though they have to be trained to hunt truffles. You might have heard of truffle hounds. Any dog breed has the ability, but poodles are among the favored breeds. At one time truffle dogs were trained at the Barot University of Truffle Hunting Dogs in Italy, which opened in 1880.
Due to dwindling wild supplies of truffles, the French started cultivating these fungi in the 1970s. Several farms in the United States sell seedlings inoculated with truffle spores. Trees are planted in orchards, and it can take several years for truffles to appear. The typical yields in Europe are between 25 and 35 pounds per acre per year, but some farms have produced up to 150 pounds per acre per year.
Real truffles are the “fruit” of a fungus growing in the soil. Basically, they’re like underground mushrooms. Truffles are round, gnarled and potato-like in appearance and pea to golf ball-sized, though some can be larger.
These fungi are considered a culinary delight and are quite expensive because of the difficulty in locating them. Italian white and French black truffles are considered the great culinary truffles of the world. Truffles have a pungent taste and are used sparingly as a flavoring in dishes like pasta, meat and stuffing. Truffle-flavored oil is sometimes substituted because of its lower cost. White truffles in Europe can sell for $1,000 to $2,000 per pound! The record price for a single white truffle was $330,000 for a 3-pound specimen in December of 2007.
There are a few truffle species in the West. The Oregon white truffle can be found growing under young to early-mature Douglas fir trees, particularly in the Willamette Valley. This truffle isn’t as valuable as its European cousin, but can still sell for more than $100 per pound.
Most truffles are found within inches of the soil surface near the interface between the forest litter layer and the mineral soil.
Because of its subterranean nature, the truffle depends on animals to consume it to disperse its spores. These fungi produce an aroma that attracts animals. As the truffle becomes more mature, the smell intensifies, making it more likely animals will find it after the spores are ready.
In addition to providing a food source, most truffle-forming fungi have an important ecological role. These fungi form symbiotic relationships with plants in which the fungus aids the plants with acquisition of water, minerals, and other nutrients from the soil, while the plant provides the fungus with sugars created through photosynthesis. Fungi that form symbiotic relationships with plant roots are known as mycorrhizae. Did you know that 100 meters of fungal hyphae can be found in a single teaspoon of healthy forest soil?
How do you locate these underground treasures? Truffle hunting has long been a secretive and mysterious business. Truffles have been collected for thousands of years.
Pigs were once the preferred mechanism for finding truffles, but they often consumed them as quickly as they found them. Dogs have gained popularity, even though they have to be trained to hunt truffles. You might have heard of truffle hounds. Any dog breed has the ability, but poodles are among the favored breeds. At one time truffle dogs were trained at the Barot University of Truffle Hunting Dogs in Italy, which opened in 1880.
Due to dwindling wild supplies of truffles, the French started cultivating these fungi in the 1970s. Several farms in the United States sell seedlings inoculated with truffle spores. Trees are planted in orchards, and it can take several years for truffles to appear. The typical yields in Europe are between 25 and 35 pounds per acre per year, but some farms have produced up to 150 pounds per acre per year.
Raini Rippy is an Extension forester for OSU Extension Service in Douglas County. She can be reached by e-mail at raini.rippy@oregonstate.edu or at 541-672-4461.
