Why do black truffles taste like gasoline?

There are always some ingredients that are out of our reach (or maybe just me), such as black truffles.

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However, although I have never eaten black truffles, I can still get black truffle-flavored snacks, such as black truffle-flavored potato chips.

But after trying the black truffle chips, Tadpole's only reaction was: What is this? It smells like gas...

Many netizens even smelled gas and diesel...

Although the taste is unacceptable, it does not affect the price. As the first of the three famous European delicacies, black truffles are known as the "black diamond" on the table and often appear in various expensive dishes. The smallest 3cm black truffle can be sold for 1,000 euros per kilogram.

Why is it sold at such a high price? Is it because it tastes so good or has extremely high edible value?

Italian truffle prices (italymagazine.com)

What are truffles?

Essentially, truffles are a type of edible wild fungus that grows underground.

Black truffles are also called truffles. As the name suggests, truffles refer to fungi whose fruiting bodies look like blocks or clumps. They are mottled on the outside, with a color between dark brown and black, and appear as small protrusions. When cut open, the inside is gray or light black with white textures.

Melbourne Truffle Festival at Queen Victoria Market (trufflemelbourne.com)

Some people say that fungi are just mushrooms, right? But truffles are different from mushrooms and other common fungi. Mushrooms usually spread their spores through the wind to reproduce, but truffles cannot do this and can only be spread through animals that eat truffles.

At the same time, truffles cannot photosynthesize by themselves and cannot survive independently. They must rely on the symbiotic relationship between certain tree roots to obtain nutrients, so they often grow under various trees. At present, it is still difficult to achieve artificial cultivation of black truffles. It is precisely this "pretentious" lifestyle that indirectly leads to its "scarcity and value".

Are truffles really that good to eat?

Because of their true nature, truffles smell a bit earthy and mushroomy. Interestingly, the smell they emit is very unique and hard to describe, and it's hard to say whether it's good or bad. Some people think it smells like cheese or cinnamon, while others think it smells like rotten leftovers.

Netizens' feelings about the taste of black truffle

The taste of black truffles is mostly crisp and has a thick nutty aroma. When paired with different ingredients, it presents a variety of flavors, such as black truffle pizza, black truffle chocolate, foie gras stuffed with black truffles, and black truffle sauce with steak.

Image source: pexels

Although we don't eat it much, the consumption of black truffles has a long history in Europe. As early as more than 2,000 years ago, there were records of Europeans in the Mediterranean eating black truffles. At that time, people believed that eating black truffles could increase vitality.

Until now, through modern scientific and technological analysis, black truffles are indeed extremely rich in proteins and peptides, as well as a large amount of unsaturated fatty acids, multiple vitamins and active substances. For example, the more prominent amino acids, glutamic acid (which makes the taste delicious, monosodium glutamate, the main component of MSG) and lysine (which promotes growth and development, enhances immunity, and strengthens the central nervous system), can reach 0.607 and 0.329 mg/g respectively, while the amino acid content of common Agaricus bisporus and Fungus is between 0.2-0.3 mg/g.

The nutritional value and efficacy of black truffles have been recognized by the whole world, and have even penetrated into the two-dimensional game world. In "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" produced by Nintendo, eating black truffles picked in the wild has a super blood-restoring effect.

Black truffles also have great edible value in the game

Are black truffles only found in Europe?

However, this ingredient still seems to rarely appear on Chinese tables, and even in historical herbal books there are no records or descriptions of truffles. Why is that?

This is because truffles have another identity in China - black truffles. No one calls it truffles, but just ordinary truffles.

As far as we know, black truffles are mainly distributed in the Alps in Europe and a few areas in the Himalayas in Asia. Since we are all at the foot of the Himalayas, it is natural that several countries surrounding the Himalayas also produce black truffles.

Large black commercial truffles naturally distributed in Asia. Based on DNA molecular data research combined with geographical distribution characteristics analysis, the Asian black truffle species group includes 6 species, namely Chinese truffle Tuber sinense, Taiwan truffle Tuber formosanum, Yigong truffle Tuber yigongense, long-spined truffle Tuber longispinosum, Himalayan truffle Tuber himalayense and Indian truffle Tuber indicum.

There are so many truffles. What are the similarities and differences between them and the European black truffle?

Researchers introduced in the top research journal Nature that the black truffle genome consists of 7,500 genes, of which 1,500 genes are considered unique to black truffles compared to other fungi, and compared the genetic differences between various common truffles in the East and the West.

Comparison of molecular phylogenetic and genomic features of eight Pechomycetes species in this article

The results of molecular biological research show that although the black truffles produced in the East and the West are geographically separated by thousands of miles, their historical origins and molecular systematic relationships are very close, and they can be regarded as two sister branches of the same ancestor. The impact of climate and natural changes and human activities on them has created the differences between the "sisters".

So, are truffles and truffles the same thing? Or do they refer to different things? Is it appropriate to call truffles truffles? This question is a matter of opinion. Truffles are indeed a type of truffle, but not all truffles are truffles, or in other words, not all truffles are the kind of delicious and healthy "truffles" defined by Europeans that are conducive to commercial operations.

Why are Chinese black truffles not valuable?

The Chinese food market seems to have never been enthusiastic about truffles. In some areas in the southwest, it is even called "pig arch mushroom."

Because pigs are the main animals that naturally forage for truffles, the aroma secreted by truffles is extremely attractive to pigs. But it is not only Chinese pigs that enjoy eating truffles, pigs all over the world love this taste.

The original mining method in Europe also used animals' keen sense of smell to pick.

Italian farmers rely on pigs to find truffles (italyexplained.com)

There are nearly 30 species of truffles reported in China, but only a few species are commercially valuable. In terms of edible value, there is no obvious difference between Chinese truffles and European black truffles, but the price difference between the two in the European truffle market is more than ten times.

Since 1989, when Chinese black truffles entered the European market, they have been controversial. In addition to commercial discrimination, cultural differences and cooking methods are also hot spots that have caused controversy.

Some Europeans believe that some truffles produced in China are in a hurry to be shipped, so they are not harvested in the young stage, so they lack the special aroma and nutrients they should have. But our Yunnan friends who have been eating mushrooms for generations believe that although the aroma of unripe truffles is not as good, they are crispy and tender, and they are the most delicious when cut into thin slices and fried in oil. What we give you is good stuff!

Faced with fierce international market competition, my country's truffle resources and their protection are facing very thorny problems. However, as truffle dishes gradually enter Chinese restaurants, the value of truffles is constantly spreading. How should truffles be eaten and bought? I believe that the best one is the one that suits you.

PS: Have you ever tried black truffles but not truffles? Share your thoughts in the comments.

END

Reviewer: Wang Guoyi, Postdoctoral Fellow in Food Safety

Tadpole Musical Notation original article, please indicate the source when reprinting

Editor/Heart and Paper