What To Do With Black SummerTruffles

Slofoodgroup Team May 23, 2022

If you are lucky enough to have come upon black summer truffles while they are fresh and in season, you might be wondering how to best make use of them. Black summer truffles, or most truffles for that matter, possess such a unique flavor, but due to their price and the brevity of seasonality, they shouldn’t be mistreated. And yes, there are many ways you can mistreat and misuse this precious fungus—add too much to a dish, and that dish will be overpowered by their intensity of flavor, incorporate them with a long list of ingredients, and their flavor will be masked, add them too early or in high-heat situations and their flavor will quickly diminish. So let's look at the right ways to use them.

Black Summer Truffle Uses 

Most chefs focus on simplicity when utilizing these tubers. They are quite mild in that nutty truffle flavor than many other varieties of truffle so it is best to utilize them in simple dishes where they are really enabled to shine. Keep reading to learn some of our favorite uses for black summer truffle that will enable this delightful fungus to shine at the flavor forefront of your dish.

Pair Truffles with Pasta or Rice

You will often find chefs employing truffles on their menus as an addition to ingredients with neutral or delicate flavors. Two such ingredients are pasta and rice, both delightfully textured but also nearly flavorless on their own and typically presented as a vessel for other flavor-filled additions—additions such as black summer truffles. Because black summer truffles are quite mild in their notable truffle flavor, thinly shaving fresh summer truffles atop a simple pasta or rice dish is the best way to ensure a satisfactory flavor explosion in every bite. 

Compliment any Potato Dish with Truffles

Whether you are having mashed potatoes, french fries, a Spanish omelette, potato soup, or virtually any other potato dish, adding black truffles is never a bad idea. Try mincing or grating some fresh black truffle to toss your french fries in right before serving, shave it over top of the mashed version for your guests to stir into the dish immediately before indulging (you’ll love how that truffle aroma wafts up as the steam hits its flesh), or add it to any of those other crowd favorite potato dishes—just make sure not to cook them long or over high heat if you choose to add them prior to the cooking process. 

Utilize a Bit of Truffle when Serving White Fish and Shellfish

Truffles pair exquisitely with the silky texture and lighter flavors of seafood, but we especially enjoy it with white fish and shellfish. The natural buttery flavor tones of the seafood such as dungeness crab, halibut, cod, and scollops helps to bring out that  earthy, indulgent piquancy truffles are revered for. 

Incorporate Black Summer Truffles into Cream or Butter-Based Sauces 

Truffles are utilized quite often in fattier dishes, such as cream or butter-based sauces because the fats tend to augment their flavor. When utilized in other dishes, they are more often than not added just prior to serving, shaved or finely chopped, and sprinkled over top to ensure there is no loss of flavor. With sauces, you’ll want the flavor to be thoroughly incorporated, so we recommend finishing with it, stirring it in after pulling the sauce from the heating element, so the flavor doesn’t cook out, but is still enabled to infuse in with the other ingredients.. 

Check Out Slofoodgroup Blog for More Great Truffle Ideas

Whether you are looking for pasta and potato recipes, cream sauces and seafoods, or something a little more out of the ordinary, we have a slew of truffle recipes on our blog to get you inspired. 

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