The "black truffle" or "black Périgord truffle" "Tuber melanosporum" is named after the Périgord region in France and grows only with oak. Specimens can be found in late autumn and winter, reaching 7 cm in diameter and weighing up to 100 g. Production is almost exclusively European, with France accounting for 45%, Spain 35%, Italy 20%, and small amounts from Slovenia, Croatia and the Australian states of Tasmania and Western Australia (see below). In 1900, France produced around 1,000 metric tonnes (1,100 short tons) of "Tuber melanosporum". Production has considerably shrunk in the past century, and is now around 20 metric tonnes (22 short tons) per year, with peaks at 46 metric tonnes (50 short tons) in the best years. About 80% of the French production comes from southeast France. The largest truffle market in France (and probably also in the world) is at Richerenches in Vaucluse. The largest truffle market in southwest France is at Lalbenque in Quercy. These markets are busiest in the month of January, when the black truffles have their highest perfume. As of December 2009, black truffles were sold for about €1,000 per kilo in a farmer's market and €3,940 per kilo in a retail saler.
The "white truffle" or "Alba madonna" or "Tuber magnatum" comes from the Montferrat and Langhe areas of the Piedmont region in northern Italy and in the countryside around the city of Alba. It is also found in Croatia, on the Istria peninsula in the Motovun forest alongside Mirna river. They grow with oak, hazel, poplar and beech trees, and fruit in autumn. They can reach 12 cm diameter and 500 g, though are usually much smaller. The flesh is pale cream or brown with white marbling. Like the French black truffles, Italian white truffles are very highly esteemed ("illustration, left"). The white truffle market in Alba is busiest in the months of October and November, where a 1.6-pound white truffle sold to "The Cody" of southern California for $150,000 on November 8, 2009 during the 79th White Truffle Festival. In 2001, the "Tuber magnatum" truffles sold for between US$1,000 and $2,200 per pound; as of December 2009 they were being sold at €10,200 per kilogram.
Giancarlo Zigante and his dog Diana found one of the largest truffles in the world near Buje, Croatia. The truffle weighed and has entered the Guinness Book of Records.
The record price paid for a single white truffle was set in December 2007, when Macau casino owner Stanley Ho paid US$330,000 (£165,000) for a specimen weighing , discovered by Luciano Savini and his dog Rocco. One of the largest truffles found in decades, it was unearthed near Pisa and sold at an auction held simultaneously in Macau, Hong Kong and Florence. This record was then matched on November 27, 2010 when Ho again paid US$330,000 for a pair of white truffles including one weighing nearly a kilogram.
Looking for truffles in open ground is almost always carried out with specially trained pigs (hogs) or, more recently, dogs. The Lagotto Romagnolo is the only dog breed recognized for sniffing out truffles (although virtually any breed could be trained for this purpose).
The female pig's natural truffle-seeking, as well as her intent to eat the truffle, is due to a compound in the truffle. This compound is similar to androstenol, the sex pheromone of boar saliva, to which the sow is keenly attracted.
In Italy, the use of the pig to hunt truffles is prohibited since 1985 due to damage caused by animals to truffle's mycelia during the digging that dropped the production rate of the area for some years.
Truffles can be cultivated, but it is not easy. The two world wars disrupted the growing of truffles in Europe, and changes in land use has reduced the available area. Truffles are now being cultivated in Australia and New Zealand.
Sweetbread
Sweetbreads or ris are culinary names for the thymus or the pancreas glands especially of the calf ("ris de veau") and lamb ("ris d'agneau") (although beef and pork sweetbreads are also eaten).
Various other glands used as food have also been called 'sweetbreads', including the parotid gland, the sublingual glands, and testicles ("cf." Rocky Mountain oyster). The "heart" sweetbreads are more spherical in shape, and surrounded symmetrically by the "throat" sweetbreads, which are more cylindrical in shape.
One common preparation of sweetbreads involves soaking in salt water, then poaching in milk, after which the outer membrane is removed. Once dried and chilled, they are often breaded and fried. They are also used for stuffing or in pâtés. They are grilled in many Latin American cuisines, such as in the Argentine asado, and served in bread in Turkish cuisine.
The word "sweetbread" is first known in the 16th century, but the logic behind the name is unclear. "Sweet" is perhaps used since the thymus is sweet and rich tasting, as opposed to savoury tasting muscle flesh. "Bread" may come from "brede" 'roasted meat'.
Culinary name
Culinary name is the name of an ingredient when used in the kitchen for preparing food. Sometimes the kitchen name is used because it sounds more attractive than the real name, or because a cheaper ingredient can be linked with a more expensive one. The culinary name may also refer to a way of cooking or to a region, or using a particular ingredient
Ken Salazar
Kenneth Lee Salazar (born March 2, 1955) is an American politician. Salazar was a member of the United States Senate from Colorado from 2005 until being appointed as the United States Secretary of the Interior in 2008 by President Barack Obama. He resigned as secretary in 2013. Salazar is a Democrat.
Before being elected to the U.S. Senate, Salazar was the Colorado Attorney General from 1999 until 2005.
In May 2021, President Joe Biden reportedly nominated Salazar as the Ambassador to Mexico.
Salazar was born in Alamosa, Colorado. He studied at Colorado College and at the University of Michigan.
Jean Casimir-Perier
Jean Paul Pierre Casimir-Perier (; 8 November 1847 – 11 March 1907) was a French politician, fifth president of the French Third Republic.
He was born in Paris, the son of Auguste Casimir-Perier and the grandson of Casimir Pierre Perier, premier of Louis Philippe. He entered public life as secretary to his father, who was minister of the interior under the presidency of Thiers.
On 17 August 1883 he became under-secretary of state for war, a post he retained until 7 January 1885. From 1890 to 1892 he was vice-president of the chamber, then in 1893 president. On 3 December he became prime-minister and foreign minister, but heresigned in May 1894, and was re-elected president of the chamber.
On 24 June 1894, after the assassination of President Carnot, he was elected president of the republic by 451 votes against 195 for Henri Brisson and 97 for Charles Dupuy. He was president for only six months. The day after Dupuy resigned, on 14 January 1895, Casimir-Perier resigned, saying he was ignored by the ministers, who did not consult him before taking decisions, and did not keep him informed upon political events, especially in foreign affairs.
From that time he completely abandoned politics, and devoted himself to business - especially mining. At the trial of Alfred Dreyfus at Rennes, Casimir-Perier's evidence, as opposed to that of General Mercier, was of great value to the cause of Dreyfus.
Hilda Solis