More recipes.  The other part would be fun to read to everyone at dinner.


STRANGOZZI WITH BLACK TRUFFLE
Ingredients (4 people): 
500 g of fresh hand-made strangozze, 150 g of black valuable truffle, 
extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, sat, black pepper and parsley. br> 
Preparation: 
Fry slightly the extra-virgin oil, the garlic and some parsley. Take the pan 
off from the stove, filter the spices and mix the other oil with the grated 
truffle seasoned with salt and black pepper. The pasta must be "al dente". 
Pour the sauce on the pasta and mix it on the stove at light heat for a 
while, then serve it guarnished with truffles slices. 



		The TRUFFLE
history of a typical umbrian product 

For a lot of people, the word truffle recalls a tuberous entity, marbled on 
the skin, with a nice scent, tasting delicious and it is usually associated 
to a good lunch, generously wet by sweet wine; for the botanics, instead, 
this is just the fruit spreading device of mushrooms wich adapted living in 
the underground. 
Since from the beginning truffles interested philosophers and scientists, 
starting fighting and discussions to whom neither very strict thinkers like 
Savonarola could avoid to partecipate. 
It is not so strange then that in the first book scientifically talking about 
mushrooms which has been printed, the Opusculus de Tuberis di Alfonso 
Ceccarelli da Bevagna (1564), was about TRUFFLES. Almost 2000 years before 
the Greek philosopher Teophrastus (370-287 a.C.) turned on the discussion 
asserting that truffles were vegetables without roots, originated during 
winter rains, if there were thunders. Strange theory, without doubts. The 
Romans were really crazy for truffles and the Latin poets Apicious and 
Giovenal glorified the truffles and their taste, writing also a recipes book. 
During the middle age it was the king on the refined tables of every king's 
court. In a document from Baron A. Ancaiani (1761) about the "active and 
passive commerce of the town of Spoleto" huge quantities of truffles sent to 
Florence and Venice are described. It seems they were really requested. 
Rossini defined it the Mozart of the kitchen and it is told that Napoleon 
used huge quantities of the truffle to provide a successor to his kingdom. 
About its botanic constitution, instead, until the late 18th century the 
strangest theories continued to be produced. The celeber naturalist Plinio il 
vecchio considered them as they were ground corns and a miracle. 
Bornolz (1780) thought they were an intermediate class between the animal and 
the vegetal kingdoms. Revel, in 1857, said the truffles were the result of a 
fly bite on a oak root. 
Just after the second half of 18th century the idea that the truffles were 
autonomous organisms, or better mushrooms, started to be accepted. Our Umbria 
keeps a rich ipogeous flora and since centuries is the first country in 
producing truffles, especially the valuable black truffle (Tuber melanosporum 
Vitt.) spread around the woods around Norcia and Spoleto. The mushroom has 
always different dimensions and it can vary from the width of a nut to that 
of an orange and it is very appreciated for the intensity of the smell and 
the rich taste. The collecting of the tubers happens during the time between 
December and March. Secondary is, in these same zones, the production of 
white truffle (Tuber Magnatum Pico) foun in Spoleto nearby valleys, but 
impressive is the production of summer "scorzone" truffle (Tuber aestivum 
Vitt.) and even of the "hooked" truffle (Tuber uncinatum Ch?teau), which have 
a peculiar taste and smell. 
what truffles are

With the name truffle are designed mushrooms belonging to the order of 
tuberales (Ascomycetes), because the mushrooms have a vegetal body formed by 
a white mold (micelius), constituted by thousand of very thin filaments 
(ife). This mold lives deep into the ground and it physically unites to the 
roots of several plants, originating a very peculiar symbiosis called 
"micorriza". 
When the ecolocical conditions are fine, the micelius generates the fructifer 
bodies which are formed in a variable range of 40-50 cm. deep in the ground. 
They are tuber-like shaped, or sheroidal or irregular and they are about 1 to 
15 cm. long. The body is made by an internal substance called "gleba" in 
which you can distinguish the fertile zones (darker) which carry the "aschi", 
a peculiar kind of spore, and in which the spores (the vehicles of diffusion 
for this organisms) mature, and the sterile zones (lighter) which surround 
the fertile zones, originating in the most evolved species a characteristic 
venation system. The "gleba" is protected on the outside by a variable 
cortical layer called "peridio", inseparable from the "gleba". The "peridio" 
could have its surface smooth or rough or even warted. The color could be 
white, yellow-like, rusty, brown or blackish. These mushrooms have several 
different species (about 30 in Europe) distributed in all the continents. The 
valuable edible species, however, are very limited. 
chemical composition and nutritive value 

In order to give some information about the nutritive value of this mushroom, 
two species of truffles have been examinated: rtuber melanosporum Vitt._ 
(valuable black truffle from Norcia or Spoleto) and rtuber magnatum Pico_ 
(valuable white truffle from Piemonte or Acqualagna). The valuable black 
truffle has been found in the Quercus Pubescens tartufaia in january. The 
white one has been found close to Citt. di Castello (High Tiber valley) in 
Populus Nigra tartufaia in November. These two different species of truffle 
are not so different about their chemical composition. The proteins are the 
main nutrient component for the metabolism: they are complete and rich, above 
all of lisyn, cystin and metionin, and they are very digestible. Even the 
minaral composition is great. The fat are essentially unsaturated and the 
most important is the linoleic acid. It is pretty relevant the fiber content. 
how to wash truffles

Before you can use truffles, you must gently clean it from the ground with a 
soft brush, in order to eliminate all the ground particles. It is 
suggestible, before starting the operation, to keep them under warm water for 
a couple of minutes. This will help the ground to fall from the space between 
the wrinkles. The skin is edible and it must be ate excactly as the rest of 
the truffle, and it is very aromatic and tasty. 
how to preserve truffles

Once it has been found in a good condition, it is important to process the 
tuber as soon as possible, because it is very easy for it to decay and lose 
its aromatic flavour. The soulution to this problem should be left to the 
specialized companies. Sometimes, however, you must do it by yourself, so 
here are some advice: before all don't remove the ground from the cracks 
because it will just accelerate the decaying process, but roll every truffle 
in a napkin and put it in a can or a jar, in the less cold part of your 
refrigerator. The paper must be changed every day. This procedure will allow 
you to save fresh truffles for about 5-6 days for the white one and for 10 
days the black one. you can even save the truffles in a can containing rice, 
but this is not very smart, because you dry the tuber, taking the air off of 
it and helping the decaying. Another sytem is to deep fry the truffles in the 
oil, obtaining a sauce you can save in the refrigerator for about a month. Or 
you can crush it, if black, or slice it, if white, and then mix it with 
creamy butter and add some salt. Then you shape it as a brick or tube, as you 
like. Every time you would like to add to a dish the truffle aroma, you can 
just add a small flake of this valuable truffled butter, resting in the 
refrigerator. It is better to use the butter within a month from its 
preparation. 
truffles in cuisine
keep always in mind that:
a black truffle must never be grated or crushed in a mortar; 
it must never be cooked or too warm; 
never mix truffle and cheese; 
always use extra-virgin olive oil and salt; 
use it in dishes which are not alredy very flavoured (Ex. with boiled or 
grilled lake fish, with boiled or grilled poultry and so on.)