TRUFFLES

Buying season fruits and vegetables means getting better quality at lower prices. However, Piedmont boasts a season fruit that is neither sweet nor beautiful, has a negligible nutrition value and a pungent smell, but has been paid as much as eight million lire per Kilo. Obviously, high prices are a function of high demand, and also make truffles a status symbol. But the significance of truffles transcends objective categories to enter the realm of pleasure: apparently, the aroma of truffles is so enticing because it communicates directly with the brain section that rules emotions and sexual impulses. It is not surprising therefore that some people are willing to spend large amounts of money to get Tuber Magnatum Pico. A magic aura also surrounds the hunt for truffles, which takes place at night, almost furtively, and exclusively "when the moon is propitious." What is a truffle, exactly? It is a hypogean fungus made of an outside bark or peel, which can be light or dark in colour and protects the flesh, whose colour depends on the kind of tree with which the Tuber lives in symbiosis -mainly willows, poplars, limes and even vines. Truffles were known to the Pharaos, the Sumerian and Babylonian kings, and even Alexander the Great. They reached the Savoys' tables thanks to French-trained chefs, and were launched internationally by restaurateur Giacomo Morra from Alba. Their fame was established by the International Truffle Fair, which took place for the first time in 1929. Suspended during World War II and resumed in 1945, it has become increasingly popular and is now a cultural as well as a commercial and touristic event.
White truffles must be eaten raw, flaked over relatively simple dishes -fried eggs, risotto, fondue, meat "Albese" (thin slices of raw beef seasoned with olive oil, salt, pepper and a drop of lemon juice), tajarin. We suggest truffle and raviole del plin (pinched ravioli), a quintessentially Langhe dish.