obilan

Most "truffle eaters", and members of the media have rarely ever tried anything else but Alba whites and Perigords, but it is a completely subjective experience. I have a good friend who thinks all truffles are gross and she wants nothing to do with the little treasures we find. But there are great truffles that can be found in any number of places.

I am actually based out of Seattle, Washington but the truffles here are called Oregon Truffles because that is where the mycologists who have studied them extensively are located. We have them in Wa, and in California and BC as well- they are just much less studied in these places and we have to do a lot more legwork to find suitable habitat because it hasn't been explored and documented yet.

Often truffles elsewhere are considered inferior because they have not been harvested properly (and this is a can of worms in the industry- I am sure we have a subreddit on here somewhere). Most people have not had good, or dog-harvested, native truffles, OR properly harvested Chinese truffles (t. indicum, t. sinensis or t. himalayensis) for that matter.

The ones they have tried have been raked up when immature, and as such, are not at their peak ripeness. While some will argue you can 'ripen' a truffle, I equate this sticking a green tomato in the fridge and expecting it to taste good a week later. It changes the flavor profile. We are trying to run some experiments measuring the volatile compounds released during this process to better understand it.

Oregon truffles are just as good, they just different. Unsavory characters some time ago actually sold Oregon winter white truffles on the market as Italian Alba truffles- and many people were not the wiser.

I prefer to be open minded about other species of truffles until I have tried them. I finally smelled a ripe, properly harvested Chinese truffle (after having only consumed sub-par ones for years), and I thought it smelled great. It is about ripeness. Not to say different varieties don't have different aromas/flavors.

There are culinary varieties in NY and on the eastern Seaboard. Tuber lyonii- the Pecan truffle can be found in the wild there, as well as some other tasty varieties in smaller quantities.

Other way around. Pigs eat them like they were born to do it. Because they were. You could probably train a pig not to eat them- pigs are exceptionally smart, but I don't really want to shove my hand down the throat of a 400 lb sow trying to get a truffle out....

You see lots of little old french men with Pigs, Big sticks and missing digits on their fingers....

Some dogs do eat them too. Dogs are easier to manage however.

There are hundreds of kinds of truffles in the world. Each species tastes different, as do individual truffles with that species. Generally they are described as having an 'umami' flavor.

They can be fruity, earthy, cheese-like, garlicky, oilly, have wine notes etc. For Example, the Oregon Black truffle (Leucangium carthusianum) is often descirbed as tasting like pineapple or vanilla with tropical fruits.

Perigord Truffles taste very earthy to me- kind of like a delicious dirt.

I am their chauffeur and chef...

These are Oregon Black and White truffles I sell mostly- not the mind numbingly expensive Italian White Truffles (Tuber magnatum pico)

one sale $1,300. One Truffle: $150