Fine Black Truffle

 

Fine Black Truffle (Tuber Melanosporum Vitt.)

Season: from December till March

Globose shape, sometimes lobed, with brown to black peridium, with close warts, hollow on their tops and crossed by longitudinal grooves. Its gleba is brownish gray or reddish black in color, striped with thin, light, intensely branched veins. Spores are herringbone. It can reach the size of a big apple or grow even bigger.

It is gathered during the whole winter period and in particular in the first months of the year, especially under oaks, hazels, and hophornbeams. It is frequent in Italy, Spain, and Istria but it is gathered and especially appreciated in France. Its specific taste and its aromatic smell make it very much appreciated in gastronomy. The French consider it the best and therefore the most valuable of the black truffles.calling it Black Diamond of Perigord. It is preferably eaten after a short cooking.

 

Definitions of its aroma by some authors: "odor of a slightly rotten strawberry". In the remarks: "very good at first, similar to strawberry, then it becomes bitter, heavy, acid, but not unpleasant" (Vittadini); "grateful aromatic smell" (Mannozzi); "odor aromatic specificus" (Ceruti); "typical and pleasant" (Montecchi); "intense odour" (Pacioni).

 

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