The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-11-07
WHAT ARE TRUFFLES?
A Foreign Table Luxury-Where the Plant
Grows


Grows.
New York Tribune.
"The importation of truf1es to this country is !
on the increase" said Jacob Meyer, who, until |
recently, was engaged in raising them in Ger
many, near Hanover They are looked upon |
as great luxury in Europe and 1 have often
wondered why they were not more used here"
"What are trufflesp
'They are fungus growth, similar to the
mushroom, and are found generally in soil i'm
pregnated with lime, and always in the neigh
borhood of oak or beech trees. They are found
under the ground, at distance varying from an
inch to foot and are supposed to be parasite
living in their early stage upon the roots of
trees. They are oblong spherical, and vary
from the size of an English walnut to that of a
large potato Quite frequently 1 have known
them to weigh two pounds, and once [ found one
that weighed three and half pounds. Some
are of dull white color but the black or brown
trutle has the highest flavor, and brings the best
price Their surface is rough and covered with
excrescences resembling warts, and, judging
from the exterior, they would not be selected as
an article of food. Internally they resemble
dark colored marble, and are different from
other known forms of fungi.
But little is known about their propagation
and growth. The reproductive portion is found
IN minute sacs, which contain number of
spores, and are thickly scattered through the
numberless small veins that traverse the mass
in every direction. In growing they are not at
tached TO any other body, and lie loosely i'm
bedded in the EARTH
I'm what localities are truffies foundp
They are found in the greatest profuslon IN
southern France and these are, also, of the best
quality They also grow in some parts of
England Germany, Italy, Australia and Africa.
| l have never heard of any being discovered in
this country. My experience here, where have
endeavored to transplant them, well as in
Germany, where | spent many years in futile eff
forts to cultivate them artfcially, has led me to
approve the common opinion of truife-hunters,
that trutae is the most contrary thing in the
world. When forced or coaxed, not one will APP
pear; and frequently field will be unexpectedly
filed. No one knows where they come from. Ihav9
taken small trufde out of the ground, filled up
the hole, and the next day taken larger one
| from exactly the same spot. Removing this
| second one, have taken third and still larger
| one from the same spot on the next day. Then
for five days not sign OF truf1le could be seen
On the sixth day small truf1e would be found
in exactly the same spot and the others would
be found as before. They would alternately ap-
pear and disappear in this manner for about
| three months, and then finally disappear alto
| gether AT times they grow so quickly as to
awaken establishment and again will increase
in size with the slowness of century plant.
| 81 have had some success in raising them by
| taking the water in which the pairing of truff1es
had been stepped and sprinkling it over a truftle
| bed that had been worked out. In some parts
| of France acorns sowed upon a ealcareous soil
| have yielded trufies after the saplings had at
tanned three or four years growth but attempts
| to raise them in large quantities will surely fail
Mushrooms are cultivated with good results, be-
the vegetative portion of the plant is easily
obtained for planting. The vegetative portion
of truffles has not yet been obtained and con
| sequenty all experiments with them have been
futile.
1.-The odor of the trufle is aromatic, peculiar
to itself and speedily penetrates every room In
house 1t produces nausea in some people, and
IN others sense of lghtheadednessp
rs there any particular way Of finding themW
yes In England and Germany dogs are
trained to find them, generally poodles or spitz
| dogs. truffle is given to one of these dogs to
! play with, and then is taken into field and
planted in sight of the dog. When feeding time
comes, the dog is taken to where the trutfie is
| buried and he is given to understand that his
| getting food depends upon finding the trutfie.
Some dogs are remarkably apt, and will gather
the idea in few trials, while others will never
comprehend your meaning. AS soon as they
are trained they are turned loose in d truf1e bed
| and will move rapidly around with noses close
to the ground until they scent the pecu-
| liar truf1e odor. They will then begin to
scratch up the SOIL and care must be taken to
stop them, they will tear the truffle to pieces.
| A good dog however, will stop scratching as soon
| as the truffie comes to view Sometimes they
are buried so deeply that the dogs cannot reach
them. They will then lie down by the hole and
| patiently wait for help. In the southern part of
| France and Italy sows, which are pasSonately
fond of truf1es. take the place of dogs, and
search for them as an article of food Hunters
| follow the sows around and gather the trutfles
| as soon as the sows begin to root.
1.-THE truffle bed l had in Germany cost me for
rent, 1 think 5000. L sold the trufles in Han
over for $1.50 pound, and made considerable
money. They will average about four to the
| pound. There isa company at Perigord, France,
who are large purchasers of truffles. They cook
them and put them up in sealed tin cans by
| secret process. The strong odor is not notice
able in the canned goods ana they have
not the delicious flavor of the fresh trufles,
| The French use more of them than any
other nation, and they are almost the only con-
sumers in this country. The only objections to
their universal use is their scarcity and cost.
There plenty Of trufie beds yet undiscov-
| cred, and some day, no doubt, an improved sys-
tenn of searching for them will be invented, and
this rare flavor will become common to every
| table. Delmonico imports truffles direct from
| France He serves them sometimes with steaks,
like mushrooms, but seldom are they eaten
alone, on account of their expense, and because
| the appetite of but few stand large dose
of them They are cut into thin slices and used
principally a continent for boned turkey and
chicken, scrambled eggs fliets of beef game
and fish, When mixed in due proportion they
add peculiar zest and spice to sauces that con
not be found in any other plant in the vegetable
kingdom. They retailed here at 65 cents
per one-eighth, 81. 30 per one-fourth, and So 50
per one-half pound. There is quite large and
increasing demand for them"
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