Fungus Among Us

All of the downsides of our life in England can be quickly forgotten because of one little thing: it's so easy to get out of town! Friday night, I picked up the wife from work and by 10, we were cruising through Paris. Nice. We had a quick, but fun, two days in La Ville-lumière.

As always, the trip was mostly about food, both eating at the restaurants and getting booty to bring back to England. Last time I was in Paris, we had bought a black truffle from Fauchon, a gourmet food store. Truffles are notoriously expensive but we splurged. Back in Chicago, we did what we thought we were supposed to do: we packed the truffle in dry, white rice and put it in the fridge. The idea is that the rice absorbs moisture from the truffle and its environs and keeps it from spoiling, while at the same time the rice becomes uber-infused with truffle essence. Win, win... or not? What we had been misinformed on is how long this truffle would keep. We wanted to make it last but instead it ended up spoiling. Argh.

Whilst ambling down a Paris side street, we came across a small shop and restaurant, Maison de la Truffe (The House of the Truffle). This place was incredible: bowls of fresh truffles, a wall of truffle infused oils, and a restaurant where truffles take center stage. We didn't stay for a meal (we hope to go back) but once again we are now proud owners of our very own fresh, black truffle. This time, though, we knew we had to do our homework.

I did some research and found various sources that had a handful of similar but varying ideas on what to do with our truffle.

Here is what I did: I scrubbed the truffle with some port wine we had on hand (brandy was recommended but port was suggested as an alternative) to kill any funk on the outside of the thing. I let it dry, then cut it into three chunks. I picked two clear, solid Pyrex dishes with tight lids and sterilized them with boiling water. In the first dish went some chopped truffle and about a half cup of melted butter. This will stay in the fridge and should last as long as butter will . In dish two went larger chunks of truffle submerged completely in good olive oil. This goes into the freezer and can keep well for up to a year or so. Lastly, the final chunk for eating in the next two weeks went into rice in a seal jar.

The smell of the kitchen while chopping truffles is an experience to savor. I truly hope these preservation methods are successful -- with any luck some of you might get to sample one of the world's foremost culinary delights, too.

Cheers!