How to Care for and Store Fresh Truffles
How to care for and store your fresh truffles.
Truffles develop and spend their lives completely underground attached to the roots of oak, poplar, hazelnut, beech, birch, or pine trees. For a fungus, this is unlike most mushroom varieties we typically see growing above ground. Truffles provide nutrients to the trees while the trees provide sugars and carbohydrates to help the truffle grow, resulting in a symbiotic relationship. The ideal residence for a truffle is quite unique. They require a home that is cool, damp, and humid, with sporadic rainfall to keep them hydrated to grow to their full potential. Autumn and Winter is when you will find supreme truffles that are harvested at their prime.
Since the truffle is hidden below the surface, it requires animals to spread its spores to reproduce. To do this, the truffle emits a pungent and distinct odor that is irresistible to hogs, mice, gophers, shrews, and some birds. The truffle is consumed, digested, and released back to the soil. Let’s not forget how lovely the smell is to human noses as well. New methods of hunting truffles have incorporated truffle-sniffing dogs for this bustling industry. In this process, one will often see claw marks from the digging dogs’ nails.
Now, once you’ve received truffles of your own, it’s time to treat them with care. With a clear understanding of the truffle, we can preserve the quality and longevity to get the most out of this culinary treasure with these 6 steps.
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#1: Smell-free container
Find yourself an airtight container free of odor. A glass jar with a sealed lid works great, Tupperware is also a fine alternative.
#2: Make room
Make space in your fridge’s crisper section, you want to keep your fresh truffles cold, but not frozen.
#3: Paper Towels
Find some unbleached paper towels to wrap your truffles. You’ll need to wrap them individually.
#4: Combine and chill
Place your wrapped truffles in your container of choice, then refrigerate.
#5: Daily check-in
Check in on your truffles daily, letting the truffle breathe is paramount, do this once a day for a few minutes.
#6: Paper change
They will release moisture. Change out the paper towel every two days, or whenever the towel seems damp. Remove any moisture from the container.
Tips:
-Truffles may sometimes have residual soil, to remove, wash in cold water, this will not harm the truffle.
-Sometimes truffles develop a light bloom when exposed to the air, simply scrub lightly with a clean brush and cold water, then pat dry with a paper towel.