Ode to the Truffle

Truffles have delighted gourmets is and inspired the best cooks since very ancient limes. Simultaneously subtle and mysterious, they baffle both scientists and those who have endeavoured to find out what kind of organism they are. For a long time they have been assigned various or even extravagant virtues. Between vegetal matter and mineral matter, they have been accused of being witches' secret ingredient. Above all, truffles are the ultimate symbol of luxury and good taste. They have never left anyone indifferent and have aroused either the highest respect or the highest praise.

They are like small balls of earth and their coal black colour would make them look dull and sad if they did not hold in store a palette of exceptional flavours.

Their history is associated with passion : passion from gastronomes who are fond of their myriad flavours, passion from kings who enjoyed their exceptional delicacy, passion from Serge Desazars and other truffle-harvesters who strive to domesticate them and humbly control their production. But they also fascinate the French top chef Yannick Alleno and his counterparts whose culinary creations are perfected by the black diamond's flavour. Finally, passion is conveyed, in this book, through Chanel Koehl's pictures which pay tribute to truffles and those who share their attraction to the strange condiment.

Once the quasi-Romanesque story of the relationship between men and truffles has been revealed, this book invites the reader to discover truffles in all their forms before sharing trench top chefs' recipes and secrets to make the best use of all the flavours and subtleties of the strangely unusual mushrooms.

Yannick Alléno