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So usually when one speaks of “the white stuff”…they mean snow…, which New Englanders know, will at some point be headed our way… But true food experts think “white truffle” when they hear “the white stuff”…and yes…white truffle season is also upon us.
A subterranean fungi, “truffles” are round, warty, and irregular in shape and vary from the size of a walnut to that of a man's fist. The French black truffle from the Perigord region of southwest France is popular shaved over pizza and pasta and as an additive to butter and in making foie gras.
The jewel of Italian gastronomy, the "white truffle" or "trifola d'Alba" comes from the Piedmont region in northern Italy and, most famously, in the countryside around the cities of Alba and Asti. It can also be found in Molise, Abruzzo, and in the hills around San Miniato, in Tuscany.
They are harvested by expert “truffle foragers” with trained dogs or pigs who are able to detect the strong smell of mature truffles underneath the surface of the ground usually during the months of September and October before being sold at “truffle fairs” and released to those craving the delicacy. Pricing has climbed over the years reaching a high in 2012 of $3000 a pound for the coveted Alba white truffle.
