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What
is the Truffle?
The truffle is a hypogean fungus which grows underground, closely
linked to certain kinds of plants, from which it absorbs nutrition
by means of an extensive and ramified root system.
The fruit is in the form of a tuber and consists of a fleshy mass,
whose colour varies from white to grey tending towards brown, depending
on the plant on which it lives and grows.
Indeed, the truffle consists of a percentage of water and mineral
salts, which it absorbs from the surrounding soil.
Its form, usually round, depends on the nature of the soil: if the
soil is soft it will be smoother; if the soil is compact it will have
more difficulty growing and will therefore tend to be more protuberant
and lumpy.
There are many kinds of truffle, the most precious used in the kitchen
are the following:
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White truffle (“Tuber Magnatum Pico”
known as the “White Alba truffle – Tartufo bianco
d’Alba") |
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Black winter truffle ("Tuber melanosporum Vitt."
also known as “Rare black truffle”) |
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Black summer truffle ("Tuber aestivum Vitt."
known as “Scorzone truffle") |
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Bianchetto
truffle (“Tuber Albidum”) |
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