How to best savor Italian truffles, an Italian excellence

Truffle is a mushroom that accompanies and embellishes any dish, from a classic fried egg to the most delicious lobster. It embellishes the great classics of Italian cuisine such as carbonara for example, a first course that has been very trendy in recent years but has always been appreciated; run and enjoy it in some Roman fraschetta!

A great classic of Italian cuisine is definitely truffle tagliatelle, found on Italian tables during the fall season. This delicacy is typical of Umbria, a region with an ideal climate for truffle growth. Tagliatelle with truffle is a very simple dish to make, but for flawless success, you need to pay attention to a few details: prefer egg pasta, which is much more delicate than durum wheat pasta, so as not to cover the flavor and fragrance of the truffle; another shrewdness concerns the cleaning of the truffle itself: you need to remove all the soil on the surface and then slice it with a truffle cutter only a few minutes before enjoying it.

Ingredients for 4 people:

- 350g egg tagliatelle

- one clove of garlic

- 50g butter

- extra virgin olive oil to taste

- black truffle

Start by cleaning the truffle: remove all soil residue under a jet of water then, with the help of a brush or toothbrush brush its surface to clean it well. With the help of a grater, thinly slice the truffle and set it aside.

Put water on the stove and wait for it to boil.

In a pan heat the extra virgin olive oil along with the butter and garlic clove, let the latter brown and then remove it. Add the previously sliced truffle slices and brown them for 2 to 3 minutes.

As soon as the pasta is cooked transfer it to the pan with the sauce, let it season and you are ready to serve. Last touch: slice fresh truffles directly onto the pasta and serve it to your diners.

A special touch: a few drops of truffle oil that will give the dish an even more exciting aroma.

There are more than 100 varieties of truffles, but they all share the intense, fragrant smell unique to this mushroom. The details that can vary are color and size; the main variation is color and we identify 2: white, which grows mainly in northern Italy, and black, on the other hand, characteristic of southern Italy. Obviously, the black truffle differs from the white truffle not only in color but also in flavor; the white truffle is more distinct and spicier. These differences come from the type of soil in which the truffle grows: the white truffle grows in chalky, moist soils, while the black truffle grows in fairly dry ones. The different characteristics of these truffles also give us insight into how to treat them in cooking. The white truffle releases all its essence when sliced directly on the dish to be served, while the black one yields much more when heated in a pan for a few minutes.

Le varietà più famose e pregiate sono il Bianco d'Alba e il Nero pregiato di Norcia.

The white truffle of Alba is the most prized variety of all (its cost is so high that it is called the diamond of Alba) and it is among the most luxurious foods you will be able to taste in Italy. Envied by the whole world, it originates and grows in Piedmont, specifically in the Langhe, Monferrato and Roero areas. Its yellow ochre color and intense, distinctive aroma make it unmistakable.Truffle lovers, how can you miss the Alba white truffle festival? You can savor the truffle while tasting wines from the area.

But what are the properties of truffles, this hypogeous mushroom with stellar prices? it is rich in potassium, magnesium and calcium; it has a high protein intake; and it is low in calories. When consumed as an aromatic oil, it benefits our body tissues.

When preparing truffle dishes, do you treat this mushroom properly? How do you store it? Here are explained to you those mistakes that are often made during truffle preparation and storage.

- Truffles should never be grated because they lose all their flavor. Truffles should be sliced with a truffle slicer.

- Unlike the black truffle, the white one should never be cooked!

- There is a market for fake truffles; be careful when buying one!

- Truffles should not be stored in rice; as we all know, one of the methods of storing truffles is precisely to soak them in grains of rice and store them in the pantry. In fact, the rice not only absorbs moisture to best preserve the truffle, but also absorbs its scent.

- Truffle lovers, how can you miss the Alba white truffle festival? You can savor the truffle while tasting wines from the area.