Today’s excerpt is “On Truffles”.
“Whoever says ‘truffles’ utters a great word which arouses erotic and gastronomic memories among the skirted sex, and memories gastronomic and erotic among the bearded sex.
This dual distinction is due to the fact that the noble tuber is not only considered delicious to the taste, but is also believed to foster powers the exercise of which is extremely pleasurable.
The origin of the truffle is unknown; it is found, but nobody knows anything of its birth or growth. The greatest minds have pondered over it; at one time it was thought that its seed had been discovered, and it was declared that truffles might be sown at will. Vain efforts and illusory promises! No harvest was ever reaped from that sowing; and perhaps that is no great misfortune; for since the price of truffles is partly a matter of caprice, they might well be held in less esteem if they were available in quantity and cheap.
‘Rejoice, my dear,’ I said one day to Madame de V- has just been shown to the Society of Encouragement on which it will be possible to manufacture superb lace for practically nothing.’
‘Why’, the lady replied, with an air of supreme indifference, ‘if lace were cheap, do you think anybody would want to ear such rubbish?’
Truffles were known to the Roman; but it does not appear that they ever tasted the French variety. Those which they enjoyed came from Greece, Africa, and above all Libya; their substance was white and reddish, and the Libyan truffles were the most sought after, as being at once more tender and more fragrant.t
After the Romans a long interval occurred, and it was only recently that the truffle was rediscovered, for I have read several old cookery books in which no mention is made of it; its rediscovery may be said to have been witnessed by the generation which is passing away as I write.
About 1780, truffles were a rarity in Paris, being only obtainable, and then just in small quantities, at the Hotel des Americanains and the Hotel de Provence; and a truffled turkey was a great luxury, only to be seen on the tables of great lords or courtesans.
We owe the increased supplies of the present day to the provision merchants, whose numbers have grown considerably, and who, seeing that truffles were finding favour, sent agents all over the kingdom. By paying good prices and using mail couriers and stage-coaches as means of transport, these agents made truffle-hunting a general activity; for since truffles cannot be planted, it is only by diligent searching that consumption can be increased.
It is safe to say that at the time of writing (1825), the fame of the truffle is at its zenith. Nobody dares to admit having been present at a meal which did not include a single truffled dish. However good in itself an entrée may be, it makes a poor show if it is not garnished with truffles. Who has not felt his mouth water at the very mention of truffles a la Provençale?
A sauté of truffles is a dish of which the mistress of the house always does the honours herself; in short, the truffle is the jewel of cookery.
Are Truffles Indigestible?
It only remains for us to discover whether the truffle is indigestible.
Our answer will be in the negative.
This official and final decision is founded:
- On the nature of the actual subject of our inquiry (the truffle is easy to masticate, weighs very little, and is neither hard nor tough);
- On our observations, conducted over more than fifty years, in the course of which we have never seen a single truffle-eater suffering from indigestion;
- On the evidence of the most famous practitioners in Paris, which is a city of gourmands, and eminently truffivorous;
- And lastly, on the daily conduct of the legal fraternity, who, all things being equal, consume more truffles than any other class of citizens; witness, among others, Doctor Malouet, who used to eat enough of them to give an elephant indigestion, but who nevertheless lived to the age of eighty-six.
Hence it may be taken for certain that the truffle is a food as wholesome as it is agreeable, and that, eaten in moderation, it goes down as easily as a letter into a postbox.”
So there you have it, the truffle!
What a fun read about truffle! 🙂
These truffles are quite something I tell you. Have a great afternoon Nami. 🙂
Never a truer word spoken my friend (about truffles) 😀
Great post!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thanks CCU! Hope you are getting your teeth into your studying – thinking of you. 🙂 xo
I’m not a fan of truffles…..I’ll stick to Rennies! 🙂
Hmm, seems I am the only one who has yet to try truffles! Have a great afternoon and enjoy the Indaba. I am still a bit sulky pants that I won’t be there.
–Ummm, Excuse me, but what is “bearded sex,” Mandy?!!!
Thanks for the education of the devine Truffle. Xxx
The bearded sex are men. I absolutely loved your post that I read this morning Kim. Have a beautiful day. 🙂 xo
a superb bit of writing so thanks for sharing the treasures of this book – But it was the end line that raised my smile “it goes down as easily as a letter into a postbox.” !
Must say, this man was extremely poetic and descriptive with his writing. Have a lovely day Claire. 🙂
Thanks for the truffle lesson. I am just going to go out on a limb but I think you might be leading up to a wonderful recipe with truffles in it in the very near future. Am I right?
Oh Bam I WISH! I have never eaten truffles before – very sad! Think I should look at rectifying that just as soon as I can find a truffle! Have a lovely day. 🙂
Oh the wonderful truffle. “Eaten in moderation”…if only we could. As expensive as they are, you are luckily to have a few slivers on a dish.
I cannot wait to taste one Karen. Have a lovely day. I hope all your water levels are back to normal now. 🙂
Thank you Mandy for your concern. The water has gone down a lot. Our beach is still underwater but the docks and gardens our out of the water.
Good to hear! 🙂
I didn’t know that about truffles. I’d never really thought about it! I had no idea we’ve been eating them for only a short period of time and I had no idea they were that difficult to grow xx
It was quite an education Charlie. Have a great day! 🙂 xo
A fascinating post, Mandy, and I really enjoy these glimpses into Yesterday’s cooking. There’s no mention of the actual harvesting. I wonder if, at that time, they even knew that truffles only grew around certain trees. Then again, if truffles could create the effects mentioned in the opening statement of this post, well, I don’t think anyone would have cared where they came from, only that there were enough to go around. 🙂
I somehow don’t think that they did think about it John – bit late to ask now hey! I really have to find a truffle soon! Have a great day John and enjoy all your mozzarella! 🙂 xo
Magnificent!
Thanks for sharing Mandy, I enjoyed a lot reading this excerpt 🙂
Thanks Giovanna. It’s great fun being able to share little glimpses of this book with you. Have a happy day. 🙂
It’s one of my dreams to one day own truffle sniffing dogs and roam the hillsides of Italy! 😉
Oh please will you invite me to come and help harvest the truffles. I will start thinking of a few recipe ideas in the meanwhile. Have a great day Jen. 🙂 xo
Very educational. Unfortunately I can’t say I’m that big a fan. I like it but don’t LOVE it, like my husband does.
Hi BFN – you are so lucky to have tasted truffles. I am intrigued by them so can’t wait to give them a try. Have a lovely day. 🙂
So much fun to read this…may the truffle reign on as the elusive and prized little jewel that it is or is perceived to be!
Here here Betsy! Have a great day. 🙂
Oh truffles are a magical ingredient. They have some kind of power over me, that’s for sure!
Oh dear, mabye I should not taste them then Kristy – they may just have the same hold over me too! Have a super day. 🙂
I adored reading this! This is one of the true food writers of the day.. wordy and cleverly witty.. I loved “eminently truffivorous”!! I may have to use that word! xo Smidge
The writing was very poetic and descriptive Smidge! I look forward to seeing you use “eminently truffivorous” soon. Have a super day. 🙂 xo
I have to agree. The thought of truffles is rather erotic. Perfect phrasing! 🙂
Hi Kelly. I really have to get my hands on a truffle soonest! Have a happy day. 🙂
Brilliant – will hve to seriously thing about training the pooches to be truffle hunters! Particularly enjoyed the dialogue about the lace, made me smile 🙂
Right, let me know when the pooches are up to speed with the training Tanya and I will pop over. Oh can you imagine how fantastic that would be! Have a lovely day. 🙂
Very interesting!!
There are the strangest anecdotes in this little book Pink. 🙂