TRUFFLES: Buried Gastronomic Treasures

              Truffle treasures are displayed by this Wine-Knows participant on the last truffle tour 

Truffles are the world’s most expensive epicurean item.  A type of exotic fungus that grows underneath the roots of certain trees such as hazelnut, oak, or pine, truffles are found by special breeds of dogs with a  heightened sense of smell.  Trained to find these highly fragrant edibles concealed mere inches under the forest’s floor, the dogs themselves are highly-prized.  Due to the exorbitant price of truffles, these highly trained canines have become equally valuable (some have actually been stolen and held for ransom).  No joke.

     Truffles, weighed tableside in restaurants before serving, can easily add >$100 to a dish

Piedmont is home to the tartufo bianco.  This white truffle, known as the “King of Truffles,” is a coveted culinary diamond by Michelin star chefs around the globe. Tartufo bianco is the most intensely flavored of the many varieties of truffles.   Its step-sister, the not-as fragrant-nor-as-intensely-flavored black truffle, is grown in several parts of the world, but it’s the luxurious white truffle which gourmands covet…and are willing to pay mega Euros for this buried edible masterpiece.

                         Alba's Truffle Festival is Italy's largest & most significant food event

The charming medieval town of Alba is the epicenter for the annual White Truffle Festival in October, a decadent month-long food gala celebrating Italy’s most precious gastronomic pleasure.  Autumn weekends are grid-lock with food aficionados from around the world descending on Alba for smells and tastes of the intoxicating white truffle.  They come for the pageantry honoring the truffle:  Medieval parades, music, dancing, truffle hunts & cooking classes.  The fact that Piedmont is also home to the super-star wines of Barolo and Barbaresco is an added bonus.

                Colorful truffle hunters hawk their gastronomic wares at the Truffle Festival

Wine-Knows' Truffle Festival tour to Piedmont this October is sold out with a waiting list.  If you have one of these coveted spots, prepare to taste truffles in a variety of forms:  truffle butter, truffle salami, truffle cheese, truffle paste, truffle sauce, truffle olive oil.  There are also bags of dry risotto with truffles, or even truffle pasta to bring home in your suitcase.

Valentine's Day is approaching.  Why not splurge and have truffles to celebrate?  Amazon can have them in your doorstep in a matter of days.  If it's made from a white truffle, you'll have an early taste of Piedmont.

Buried Treasure---Truffles

                     Truffles grow underground & specially trained dogs are required to find them

October is the beginning of the season for the world’s most expensive culinary treasure, the white truffle.  Only grown in a small area near the Italian Alps called Piedmont, the white truffle (tartufo bianco) is the most fragrant and most intensely flavored of all of the many varieties of truffles.  For this reason it is often called the “King of truffles.”  Its step-sister, the not-as-fragrant-black truffle, is grown in several parts of the world, but it is the highly prized white truffle which gourmands around the world not only covet, but pay mega Euros to feast on this buried edible masterpiece.

                             The tartufo bianco is the most aromatic & flavorful of all truffles

All truffles are a type of an exotic fungus that grows underneath the ground near the roots of certain trees.  In Piedmont, Italy the white truffle variety grows commonly near the roots of hazelnut, oak, pine or beech trees.  Truffles, a kind of distant cousin of wild mushrooms, are found by special dogs who have been trained to smell these highly fragrant edibles which are concealed several inches under the forest’s floor.

Piedmont in October is one big love-fest with the white truffle.  The charming medieval town of Alba is home to the Truffle Festival, a decadent food gala celebrating the area’s famous white culinary diamonds.  Weekends are grid-lock with aficionados from around the world descending on Alba for a smell and taste of the intoxicating white truffle.   There is pageantry with parades, music, and dance---all to honor the illustrious tartufo bianco.  

                                     Alba's Truffle Festival is a do not miss event for foodies

 If you can’t make it to Piedmont for the Truffle Festival, the next best thing may be dining at a Michelin star restaurant somewhere in the world during the months of October or November.    Be prepared, however, to spend almost $100 more per dish for the addition of the white truffle.  This means a $50 pasta will become $150 with the tartufo bianco.

Buon appetito!

Perfect Foodie Gifts to Bring Home from Italy

I'm on my way to Italy with two different groups.  Often times on my tours I am asked by my clients what gifts are best to bring home  for their food-loving friends.  My answer depends on the district of the country in which the group is----each region has certain gourmet specialties.  Below I’ve listed my recommendations beginning with Umbria and Tuscany as that’s where Wine-Knows has rented villas this June, however, I’ve added ideas for many other regions.  My suggestions are based on the weight of the item, ease in packing it, perishability, and uniqueness.

Umbria

   ~ Umbria is world famous for its black truffles.  Truffle oil and truffle paste are great because they are not near as perishable as fresh truffles.

   ~ Nothing says Umbria like a piece of Deruta pottery for the kitchen.  There are all sizes and shapes of these colorful ceramics available, many of which never make it to the export market.

                                                             Deruta's tempting wares

Tuscany:

   ~ Vin Santo (a dessert wine often eaten with biscotti)  is a Tuscan tradition.  While available in the U.S., many of the boutique producers’ Vin Santo does not leave the country.  As it is frequently packaged in half bottles, it can easily be brought home packed in your suitcase.

                        Biscotti, another Tuscan specialty, pairs beautifully with Vin Santo

   ~ Finocchiona salami is a specialty of the Chianti wine region.  This savory deeply flavored salami is chocked full of local fennel.

Emilia Romagna:

   ~ The capitol of Italy’s gourmet cuisine, there’s a plethora of goodies to tempt you (e.g. home of Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma and Balsamic Vinegar).  Pasta attains true stardom in this region and you’ll see shapes and sizes that you’ll  never see again.  If packed between layers of clothes, a package of dry pasta weathers the journey home nicely.

                                Butterfly-shaped pasta in the colors of the Italian flag

   ~ Balsamic is in every grocery store these days, however, aged Balsamico is not.  Pickup a small bottle of 20 or 30 year old rich, aromatic, syrupy Balsamic for drizzling back home on fruit dessert (or add it at the last moment to a savory sauce for major complexity).

Amalfi Coast:

   ~ Gigantic lemons are one of the hallmarks of the coast.  While US customs forbids bringing them back, you can bring back a memory of them in the form of a kitchen towel, pot holder or even a small ceramic platter decorated by local artisans with colorful lemons.  All are very abundant in shops.

                              When life gives you monstrous lemons, make limoncello

  

~ Superbly yummy San Marzano tomoatoes are grown on the slopes of Mt Vesuvious which looms over the entire Amalfi Coast and Bay of Naples.  Tomato paste (double or triple concentrations are the best) are fabulous gifts to bring home…I usually buy a dozen and stick one in to a hostess gift.

  

                         Paste comes in 3 strengths:  regular (L), double (C), & triple (R) 

Sicily:

   ~Capers are available in every province in Italy, however, the Sicilian varietal is the pinnacle.  Dry-packaged in salt (which is rinsed before serving), these taste like no other caper you’ll ever have.  They are expensive but worth every Euro.    

                                 Meaty, plump capers like you're never had before

   ~Bottarga is another Sicilian specialty.  Somewhat like dried caviar, it is a salted and cured fish roe.  Expensive, it is often added in small amounts to pasta dishes, although it can also be served on a crostini.

Lombardy:

   ~ Northern Lombardy is home to polenta, risotto, Gorgonzola and Taleggio, all of which are widely available in the US.  It is also home to mostarda, a heavenly savory fruit condiment somewhat like chutney.  Served with meats or even cheeses, this labor-intensive delectable can make even the simplest dish into a masterpiece.

  

                                     Mostarda made from plums, pears, peaches & apricots

Piedmont:

   ~ Home to the Slow-Food movement, this northern most district that shares a border with France is one of my favorite for gourmet gifts.  Piedmont is synonymous with the white truffle, the King of truffles.  Truffle-centric gifts are everywhere from salami to truffle oil.  Truffle shavers are also available in every shop.

                  White truffles are so expensive that they require a shaver to thinly slice them

        

   ~ If it’s not summer, than one of the best gifts to bring home from Piedmont is gianduja, the marriage of chocolate and hazelnut.  Gianduja is an art-form here as exotic, imported cocoa beans are mixed with the smoky local hazelnut.   (If it is summer, bring home just the unusually rich, and intense local hazelnuts).

                                            A Italian marriage made in heaven 

What’s on Your Menu?

There’s something about the end of one year and the beginning of a new one that causes me to pause and reflect.  One of these year-end contemplations is often about my favorite meals of the year.  This time, however, it came in a different form:  what would be on the menu of my last meal?   Here’s my list:

• To kick it off, a Kir Royale…and then an Aperol Spritz (Hey, it’s my last meal so who cares if I over-drink?)

• Next, a Margarita with guacamole, home-made chips & salsa, and a chile relleno (I’m no longer worried about my weight!)

• Then, fresh Dungeness crab…with lots of mayo and hot-from-the-oven sour dough French bread swimming in butter (goodbye cruel cholesterol count!)

• To follow would be pasta with fresh porcini mushrooms & freshly shaved white truffles, served with a well-aged Dal Forno Romano Amarone

• For dessert, I couldn’t leave this earth without having one more warm home-made brownie topped with pralines and cream from Baskin-Robbins (no worries about tomorrow!)

More importantly, however, than what’s on the menu is WHO I would be dining with.  A reminder for all of us:   we need to break-bread together with people we love more often…and bring out those old vintages now.

Happy New Year!

Umbrian Truffles

                                                  Fettucine with Umbria's Black Truffles

Summer is coming to a close.   In Umbria, that means the season for its precious black truffles is also ending.   Every ristorante  in Umbria is now offering a “Tartufo” menu:  bruschetta with local olive oil and truffles, truffled cheese,  pasta of every shape and size served with shaved truffles on top (cooking destroys the delicate taste of truffles), risotto crowned with shaved truffles, their version of steak tartare topped with truffles, beef or veal covered with a truffle-infused sauce.  Umbrian pizzerias feature truffle pizzas.   Even truffle gelato is sold at Umbria’s pasticcerias.

What exactly is a truffle?  A truffle is an exotic fungus, a kind of distant relative of the wild mushroom.  They are one of the world’s most expensive culinary items.  Up until recently, truffles were only found in Italy.  Now, Oregon and even China are trying their hands at truffle farming, but so far, none can compete with Italy.

Umbria is world famous for its summer truffles.  These prized culinary morsels are the black variety.  Like their cousins, the white truffle from the northern Piedmont district, Umbria’s black truffles grow underground in symbiosis with the roots of trees such as oaks, hazelnuts and chestnuts.  While the white Piedmontese truffle is much more aromatic (and expensive), Umbria’s black rendition offers a good substitute for those who cannot wait for Piedmont's white truffle---which does not mature until winter.

Wine-Knows will be visiting Umbria in June 2015 just in time for the beginning of their truffle season.   Truffles are hunted with specially-trained truffle-sniffing dogs.  We’ve scheduled a truffle hunt into the forest with a truffle hunter and his dog, followed by a truffle dinner featuring the finds of our hunt.  There are just two more spaces left for this gourmet extravaganza.   For more information about the food lovers tour visit www.wineknowstravel.com.

Croatia’s 90 Point Parker Wines

   
Croatia has been producing wines as far back as the fifth century B.C.  My first visit was in 2009.  In preparation for this inaugural trip, I did a sweeping analysis of their current wine scene.  In this assessment I discovered that Robert Parker had dubbed Croatia as the next up-and-coming wine country.  Shortly thereafter, Parker published his first-ever review of Croatian wines.  His team scored  3 Croatian wines in the 90’s.  Below are the comments:

• 2007 Tomac Amfora – 90.   From North Croatia, this Chardonnay (50%) sweetie is blended with local varieties from the Plesivica region. It has a fine minerally nose with limestone, orange-blossom, lychee and gooseberry. Good definition. Ripe on the entry with touches of butterscotch, vanilla pod and frangipane.  Intriguing.

• 2006 Kabola Amfora – 90.   This Malvasia from Istria has a light nose of honey, melted butter and nutmeg, succinct and well defined. A touch of dried honey on the entry, waxy texture, hints of lanolin and hazelnut, leading to weighty, dried fruit, nectarine and smoke tinged finish. Excellent.

• 2008 Trapan Winery Uroboros – 90.    Another excellent wine from this Istrian producer, light and floral on the well-defined nose: green apple, white flowers, watermelon and a touch of apricot. The palate has a ripe entry, lovely balanced and poise with well-judged acidity on the finish. This is a sophisticated, very well-crafted Croatian wine from Bruno Trapan.   One to watch!

Since that time, Croatian wines have won numerous international awards and have received accolades from other top wine writers such as Jancis Robinson of the U.K.  In 2014 Wine-Knows is heading to Croatia where we’ll be visiting the crème de la crème producers.    The trip is perfectly timed for the grape harvest as well as the white and black truffle season.

Truffle Oil---Buyer Beware!

                                       Real Oil says "Truffle Infused"

Every year when I’m in Italy one of my “must have” purchases is white truffle oil.   It’s becoming increasingly difficult (and super pricey) to find out of its home region, Piedmont.  I was recently in Venice (300 miles east) and couldn’t find a single bottle.  There was plenty of black truffle oil (from Umbria, a few hundred miles south).  The black was tempting as was less then half the cost of the white, but it’s also less than half the aroma and half the taste.  I decided to pass.

When I came home I began an Internet search on white truffle oil.   I knew to avoid anything from China (yes, they're producing truffles...if you could possibly call them that---yuck!).  I discovered a plethora of both white and black truffle oils with wording such as "Truffle Essence" or "Truffle Aroma."  Mama mia…imagine my surprise when I came across an article in the New York Times talking about knock-off truffle oils.  If it says "Truffle Essence" or "Truffle Aroma" it is SYNTHETIC, made in a laboratory from chemicals that mimic the smell of the glorious tuber. 

Buyer Beware!  If you’re shopping for truffle oil be sure to carefully inspect the label to make sure it says “infused with white truffles.”  Don’t even think about labels that have “essence” or “aroma,” as their imposters made with 2,4-dithiapentane in some lab.

Wine Knows Travel is attending Piedmont’s Truffle Festival this October and I intend to load up on the real thing.  Nonetheless, I intend to eyeball every label and buy from one of the region’s reputable truffle firms.