Truffles: Ultimate Luxury, Everyday Pleasure

Description: Truffles have long reigned as the gold standard of edible fungi, the supreme culinary delicacy. Yet increased availability of derivative products - truffle oils, pastes, and flour - which deliver the flavor without the cost, have given this luxurious ingredient a new accessibility and fresh creative possibilities. Written by the world's largest truffle importer and a veteran chef, this new book explains truffle mystique, history, and varieties, and provides all the information needed to buy and prepare truffles and truffle products. With more than 125 recipes for all occasions, including signature dishes from such star restaurants as Daniel, Babbo, Pichalre, and Emeril's, it illustrates how versatile, simple, and affordable cooking with truffles can be. Featuring such comfort food dishes as Penne with Truffle Cheese (the ultimate "mac and cheese"), this lavishly photographed cookbook/guide reveals how one of the world's culinary luxuries can now grace any table, any time.



Contents: PART I: TRUFFLES: AN INTRODUCTION.Introduction.A Brief History of Truffles. Alba, Perigord, and Beyond: White and Black Truffles, and Other Relatives.Oak Trees and Dogs: How Truffles Grow and Are Harvested.Deep in the Heart of Texas: Inoculated Trees and Other Truffle Experiments.Buying, Storing, and Serving Truffles.Truffle Products: Affordable Luxuries.PART II: RECIPES.Appetizers and Small Bites.Soups.Salads.Pasta, Rice, and Polenta.Fish, Poultry, and Meat.Pizza, Focaccia, and Panini.Eggs and Cheese.Vegetables.Sources.Bibliography.Index.



Author Biography: ROSARIO SAFINA is the president of Urbani USA, the world's largest importer of truffles and other gourmet foods. JUDITH SUTTON is a veteran chef and food writer and the author of Champagne & Caviar & Other Delicacies.