By Emmanuel Souliere, Executive Chef - Hilton Shanghai
Truffles were called by Brillat-savarin "the Black Diamonds of cuisine".
Can we make our menu with truffles ONLY? Yes, just in name, but not in quality, price and sense.
Different types of truffle
1) White truffles (the most expensive and delicate), also called Alba truffles or by the Latin name (TUBER MAGNATUM), coming in season between October and November.
2) Black truffles or Black Perigord truffles (black diamond, in Latin TUBER MELANOSPORUM): come from Europe, 45% of them are from France. The tuber melanosporum is very flavorful and tasty. These "tubers" are classified as mushrooms, and can be consumed raw in the season of January when picked fresh, otherwise can be kept frozen or preserved in tin as long as the truffle does not lose any of its flavor, or adds unpleasant aromas to the dish when you cook.
3) Chinese truffles or just called as truffles (Latin name TUBER SINENSIS or TUBER INDICUM): look like the Tuber Melanosporum, i.e. black truffles, but taste definitely not the same, and price is relatively cheap. Come fresh in Winter time between November and December, can also be kept frozen or in tin as the European truffles, but they will never have the magic sense and taste as the Melanosporum.
4) Black summer truffles (in Latin TUBER SINENSIS) are black on the outside and white inside, and carry a very light flavor and aroma similar to the Chinese truffles. Coming from central Europe, Turkey, North Africa and China, their season goes from June to November. These Summer truffles (TUBER AESTRIVUM) are naturally used in the Summer menu. Not expensive, they provide a nice name to the dishes with unique color and freshness of light taste.
There are other species growing in different parts of the world, but we ignore them here as they are too small to talk about.
Truffles have been cultivated in Europe, especially in France; however most of the savoir-fair and technique went lost during the 1st and 2nd world war, and it takes time to recover.
After this very quick introduction of truffles, I will suggest to call a cat a cat, meaning a truffle is not better than any other "tuber"...... So let's go back to the kitchen and cook!!