Fresh black Summer Truffle description
Fresh Italian Summer Truffle (Tuber aestivum Vittad.), as its name suggests, is hunted from late spring to the end of summer. It has good edibility and is less expensive than other types of truffle, is therefore suitable to use in daily recipes.
Appearance
The Summer Truffle tends to have a round shape and a brown brownish dark color in the outside, while its inside is homogeneously dark yellow/brown matter, lighter then the Winter Truffle. The peridium (rind) is rough and warty, for that reason it is called also Scorzone (“rough peel”).
Unlike other truffles, the black summer truffle has a high average size and it is possible finding specimens of a pound of weight.
Where it Grows
The Summer Truffle grows in clay soils, in the presence of deciduous forests but often also in the pine forests.
Cooking
- The Summer Truffle has an aromatic, a bit nutty aroma, and a definite taste.
- Compared to other truffles, its lower cost make it an ideal ingredient for every day cooking, where will bring perfume and panache. It is also a quite resistant truffle and tend to keep well.
- The fresh Scorzone is enhanced by cooking and preparations with oil, butter and cheese. Therefore it can be used to prepare dishes such as sauces, croutons baked with cheese, noodles or butter pasta and risotto.
- It can also be used raw, as on the classic scrambled eggs, but in these cases many prefer to remove the rind and use it on cooked preparations on which sprinkle a generous helping of truffle.
