Page 224 - The Forager’s Guide to Wild Foods

TRUFFLES

Oregon White Truffle, Tuber
oregonense and T. gibbosum
(TUBERACEAE)

Ryane Snow, CC-BY-SA-3.0
Ivy Hutchison
OREGON WHITE TRUFFLE is the common name for in the organic layer or signs of animals digging where
2 species that are native to the western coast of North the truffle is growing. Rake the organic material away
America in Douglas fir forests. They don’t grow in carefully to expose the truffle. Avoid raking large ar-
maple or cedar forests. The 2 species are very simi- eas. Once you have found one, you can return to it
lar in appearance and have the same distribution and every year. Best truffles have a rich, earthy scent that
habitat, but they fruit at different times. They grow tells the forager that it is mature and ready to eat.
underground. Immature truffles that have been raked up will not
CAP: No cap, instead it is the typical, irregular pota- mature, so they won’t produce the intense smell and
to-shape that truffles have. Outer skin on T. oregon- taste. Wash in water, brush with a damp, soft tooth-
ense is opaque and develops a reddish tinge as it gets brush. Dry with a paper towel. Best eaten fresh with-
older. It tends to be golf ball size. Outer skin on T. gib- in 3 days and grated in small quantities for seasoning

bosum is thinner, which makes it even more translu- cheese, dairy products, smoked meat, pasta and sauc-
cent looking, and it develops a cinnamon-pinkish tinge es. Cooking them will destroy the flavor. Sprinkle on
instead. Oregon white truffles can range in size from top of finished dishes.
a cherry to a golf ball. They are firm when squeezed. SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH SHAVED OREGON WHITE
The inside of the truffle is white when young and be- TRUFFLE: Ingredients: 4 eggs, 1 Oregon white truf-
comes marbled and smoky colored when mature. fle, handful of cut shallots for garnish. Whisk the eggs
STEM: none and fry, sprinkle with shaved Oregon white truffle and
shallots. Serve with toast. Alternatively, store your
SPORES: Enclosed within the truffle are its micro-
truffles in a glass container with your eggs for 24
scopic spores, which are dispersed by animals feeding
hours; the eggs will absorb their aroma and flavor.
on them. 1–4 spores are scattered within tiny sacks
inside the truffle, and each spore within the sack can POISONOUS LOOK-ALIKES: Some poisonous spe-
vary in shape from oblong to spherical. cies of Amanita and Cortinarius mushrooms in the
young, underground developmental stages can look
EDIBLE PARTS: round, fruiting truffle
similar to Oregon white truffle. The texture helps to
HOW TO HARVEST AND EAT: T. oregonense is best
identify these young, poisonous mushrooms; truffles
harvested in October to early March. T. gibbosum can
are firm and brittle, whereas developing Amanita and
be found in early February-June. Truffles usually grow
Cortinarius mushrooms are soft and spongy and easy
between the layer of organic material on the surface,
to squash.
and the soil layer underneath, so you may see cracks
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