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Invisiblethallus
Stranger thanyou

Registered: 08/15/06
Posts: 629
Loc: Hiding in Plain Sight
Truffle hunting interview Smithsonian magazine
    #7638954 - 11/15/07 10:28 AM (16 years, 3 months ago)

For Hire: Truffle Hunter
Into the weird world of mushroom delicacy

By Robin T. Reid
Smithsonian.com, November 12, 2007

Charles Lefevre is an addict. And a clever one at that, because he's devised a way to sustain himself and the object of his addiction: mushrooms. Lefevre's fungus of choice is the truffle, arguably the most elegant and priciest type of all. The 42-year-old runs New World Truffieres Inc., which produces trees inoculated with truffles that farmers can use to start "truffieres"—or truffle orchards. The business, based in Oregon's Willamette Valley, began in 2000, and Lefevre now has customers across the continent. In addition to selling the trees, he helps organize the Oregon Truffle Festival in late January, when the mushrooms are at their best. Lefevre tells Smithsonian.com how he finds the fun in fungus.

What exactly are truffles?

Truffles are mushrooms that develop underground and depend on animals eating them to disperse their spores. They actually need for us to eat them to complete their life cycle. Since they live below ground, they can't turn red like an apple to get our attention. Instead, they produce powerful aromas to attract our attention from several inches underground.

How did you get interested in them?

Truffles are mysterious and magical; they have that kind of leprechaun quality. Truffle hunting is something I did to supplement my income as a graduate student at Oregon State University. I am a mycologist [his PhD is in forest ecology], so hunting for chanterelles and porcini was what I did for fun anyway. At some point, it was hard to separate my academic and entertainment interests.

So, without divulging trade secrets of course, what do you do?

We produce trees inoculated mainly with the European truffles to enable farmers here in the United States to grow the famous European truffles. The truffles and the trees form a mutually beneficial symbiosis that can last 50 years or more in the soil. The trees are produced under controlled conditions for the first year of their lives in order to convince them and the truffles to form their symbiosis. It is a delicate process since the needs of the fungus and the needs of the trees are not entirely the same.

Who are your customers?

The people who purchase the trees are demographically similar to the people who pioneered the wine industry in this country: they are mainly professionals looking for a lifestyle change who can afford to venture into new areas of agriculture that offer some mystique as well as the potential for significant income. Our customers are spread all over the continent, and I do visit them when I'm asked to do site evaluations.

Is there a hunting season?

January to June.

When you're hunting, how do you find truffles?

Out here, we look for them with rakes; that's the bad harvesting practice you hear about.

Why is that bad?

You're raking up the forest floor and all the things that live on it. It doesn't allow you to choose ripe, harvestable truffles, so you'll rake up immature and unripe ones. That damages the taste and the reputation.


Why don't hunters here use pigs and dogs like they do in Europe?

Most of the hunting is done surreptitiously at night without [a landowner's] permission. If you're driving around with a pig, everyone knows what you're doing.

I've been hunting with dogs, and they're preferable. Any dog can find truffles, but dogs that love to work are best. Labs and poodles make great truffle dogs.

How many truffle hunters are there?

There are very few truffle hunters in the United States. It is a secretive business, and perhaps only a thousand people in the Northwest know how and where to look for them. Of that thousand, perhaps 20 people do 90 percent of the harvesting. Globally, I have no idea; there are undoubtedly many thousands in France, Italy and Spain.

What's it take to be a good truffle hunter?

The principal personality trait required is the ability not to brag about it, because someone will follow you to your patch the next time you go.

And can a good patch be a veritable leprechaun's pot of gold?

Native Oregon truffles are under-priced at about $100 per pound, although they sold for as much as $200 per pound last year. The European black truffles typically sell for about $800 per pound wholesale here in the U.S., and the Italian white truffles are often in the neighborhood of $1500 per pound wholesale. Truffle hunting is a hard life if that's all you do to make a living. It's a bit like prospecting for gold; most people don't make much money and move quickly on to other things. But a few do quite well.

How are truffles different?

The Oregon white truffles have a powerful gassy aroma that goes very well in anything with a cream sauce. The Oregon black truffles have a distinctive tropical fruit aroma often described as pineapple or mango that goes very well in desserts, particularly ice cream. The European black truffle has a musky, but slightly sweet aroma that is famous with omelets. The Italian white truffle is powerfully musky, even a bit raunchy, and is famous simply shaved over pasta.

So how does an aficionado like you eat truffles?

Simple is best; pasta in a cream sauce with shaved white truffles on top.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/truffle.html?page=1


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OfflineDr. uarewotueat
Peyote Farmer
Male User Gallery

Registered: 09/02/06
Posts: 16,545
Loc: Uk / Philippines
Last seen: 10 years, 6 months
Re: Truffle hunting interview Smithsonian magazine [Re: thallus]
    #7639363 - 11/15/07 11:41 AM (16 years, 3 months ago)

sounds lucrative :yesnod:


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Invisiblegreys
OTD Sergeant at Arms
Male User Gallery


Registered: 07/16/06
Posts: 44,923
Loc: nunya
Re: Truffle hunting interview Smithsonian magazine [Re: Dr. uarewotueat]
    #7639415 - 11/15/07 11:52 AM (16 years, 3 months ago)

i gotta be honest ive tried white and black truffles from europe

white and black truffles truffles from the states

and black truffles from china.

in my opinion the european product is superior to the point i wouldnt buy the others.


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OfflineFatBear
Stranger than fiction
Registered: 02/02/08
Posts: 4
Loc: Oregon
Last seen: 15 years, 4 months
Re: Truffle hunting interview Smithsonian magazine [Re: greys]
    #8270781 - 04/11/08 06:26 PM (15 years, 10 months ago)

I know this is an old thread, but I can't let it sit unanswered.

I, too, have had the black and white truffles of Europe, in Europe on many occasions, and the black and white truffles of Oregon. The Oregon truffles are different from the European truffles, just as those truffles are different from each-other. You must use them correctly or be disappointed, just as you must with the European ones.

There are three factors that influence how good a truffle tastes. One is maturity, one is freshness, and one is how you prepare it. The Oregon white truffle, preferably the Tuber oregonense from the fall harvest, is delicious in butter, but insipid in olive oil. They must be fresh and they must be mature. Too often the raking method of harvest yields immature truffles which lack the full flavor of the mature ones. You can grate (fine) a couple of small, ripe Oregon white truffles into a pound of softened butter, mix well and store. Don't use it immediately, but wait a few days. The butter absorbs and retains the wonderful essence of the truffles. You can then put it on pasta, toast, potatoes, wild rice - any food which is warm enough to melt the butter and release the aroma. You can mix some in with your risotto just before service. Just don't cook with the butter. Use it where you can add it at the end.

But you can immerse a pound of those same truffles in olive oil until hell freezes over and it will not take on the flavor. I have tried it. So don't use them with olive oil, use with butter or milk.

I have less experience with the Oregon black truffles. They also cannot be cooked (as can the Perigord truffle.) I've been working on a desert using truffle-stuffed strawberries dipped in chocolate. I'd like to be able to serve them as a fondu, but I haven't perfected the stuffing yet.

We Americans tend to be in a big hurry. Slow down and get to know the Oregon truffles and you may come to love them. Remember that the Europeans have spent thousands of years learning how best to prepare their truffles.

BTW, I profit in no way from Oregon truffles. I am merely a satisfied consumer.

--FatBear


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InvisibleCureCat
Strangest
 User Gallery

Registered: 04/19/06
Posts: 14,058
Loc: clawing your furniture
Trusted Identifier
Re: Truffle hunting interview Smithsonian magazine [Re: FatBear]
    #8270787 - 04/11/08 06:27 PM (15 years, 10 months ago)

Eehh.... I don't like truffles.


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