While searching through random people on myspace, looking for people who might be interested in my food writing I came across a profile titled “truffle hunter” from Salem Oregon. I sent him a message asking if he had any truffles for sale. He responded with the contact information of a friend of his who did have some Oregon truffles for sale and that’s how I met the wonderfully energetic Toby.
I had read an article a few years before about Oregon truffles. Apparently their quality and flavor rival the incredibly expensive European varieties but because of ill informed over harvesters, the Oregon truffle was gaining a bad reputation with chefs in the global market. Still with an average price tag of $15 an ounce compared to hundreds of dollars an ounce for European truffles, I wanted to try some and find out more about the truffle hunting culture of the Pacific Northwest.
Toby sent me a mixed ounce of black and white Oregon truffles through the mail. Before I even opened the box I could smell the strong woodsy aroma of the truffles. Because truffles grow under the surface of the forest, about 4 to 10 inches, they’ve had to adapt a clever way of getting animals to take the time to dig up their tubers and spread their spores around. What did these brilliant fungi come up with? Sex. The scent of truffles mimics mammalian sex pheromones which is the best reason I can think of for digging in the dirt.
The first thing I did with my truffles was put them in a container with 4 uncooked eggs. After a few days the eggs were permeated with truffle goodness. I scrambled the eggs with a little parmesan cheese and without any added truffle flavoring the eggs had a wonderful, not so subtle, truffle flavor. I tried to stretch the truffles as much as I could. I made whipped truffle butter with the shavings, shaved truffles in rice and mashed potatoes, and even made a decedent semifreddo with black truffle shavings. Oregon black truffles have a unique aroma of chocolate and pineapple.
To find out more about Oregon truffle hunters and the recent Oregon Truffle festival I asked Toby a few questions.
When did your love for truffles begin? How and when did you get into truffle hunting?
Before I moved to the northwest, I had a burgeoning fascination with truffles, but it was stifled by my experiences with those little preserved jobbies in jars. I found myself buying a $20 truffle saturated in salt water at Jungle Jim’s in Ohio, only to be sorely disappointed in the results – no real aroma, no infusion capabilities, very little “truffliness”. I was sad and disenchanted. When I moved to the Northwest, though, in 2000, I learned that there were truffles here, and I had a fit. I wanted so badly to find them on my own, and commenced to investigating the where’s, why’s and how’s. I was mislead by the notion that globally, oaks and hazelnuts were the primary hosts, however, and spent some time exploring this avenue fruitlessly. For years I had no real clue as to how to proceed. Then I discovered the North American Truffling Society. NATS is based in Corvallis, Oregon and has regular forays throughout the season that are open to the public. So off I went. I was, however, appalled at the general blitheness about tromping around in the woods with a large rake, upending duff in large swaths. Grrrr.
I found my first truffle miraculously in a spot of duff off of a forested road in some private timber lands in 2005. Swamp Creek Road, it was. I parked the vehicle, attracted by the young uniform Douglas fir stands, and walk about 100 feet into the woods, picked a spot at random, and inserted my small plastic three-tined cultivator deep into the duff and pulled back a few inches… Voila. There it was – Tuber Oregonense, the Fall White Oregon Truffle. Yay!
Why have you chosen to use a dog instead of a pig to truffle hunt?
Easy. A dog is a companion. I’ve lived in my vehicle for many years, and a pig is simply right out… they tire easily, are too large, love eating truffles, are primarily concerned with European species, and the small ones are expensive. My puppy was free on craigslist, and found truffles on my tenth day of ownership. He is an excellent companion, and he is very skilled and trainable. Pigs are just weird.
Is it hard to train a dog to hunt truffles? What is the training like?
Most folks will say it is difficult. I have worked with a couple of dogs who all seemed to take to it rather easily. Training with them involved using a tea bomb with an actual truffle inside it. I position the dog in such a way that he can see me hiding the tea bomb in an obvious place, introduce his nose to it with over-the-top excited tones, and present a treat. Treat in one hand, truffle the other – “Ooooh! It’s a TRUFFLE! FIND THE TRUFFLE; I’LL GIVE YOU A TREAT!” Then I “hid” the truffle nearby and encouraged the dog to approach the truffle. As soon as the dog’s nose was near enough to the truffle, congratulations were forthcoming, as was the treat. Much excitement is necessary. With a few tries, this becomes easy. Then you begin to hide the truffle in earnest, and sequester the dog in an adjacent room. Surprisingly, dogs love treats.
My dog, however, was simply thrust into the front lines. He was green as all get-out. I took him to a known Black Truffle spot and found a truffle in the raked up duff. Again with the excitement and a treat (cheese in this case). A few minutes later another truffle availed itself, and again, uber-excited ridiculousness. Within half an hour of being in the woods, my 8 month old puppy, Appa, was finding black truffles for me. He was very pleased with himself at this feat, and has been a very productive truffle dog over these last 6 weeks. That’s it. No previous training. 30 minutes in the woods. Bam, truffles. Very schweet.
What was your involvement in the recent 2010 Oregon Truffle Festival?
My involvement was self-serving. I wanted to attend the truffle growers’ forum and cultivation seminar in order to tug the ears of prominent international cultivators. I needed proprietary secrets. I need to grow truffles. So I made arrangements with Charles Lefevre, the big chief, to trade truffles for attendance. I’ve known Cahrlie for some years now, and it was nothing to make contact with him… He left me a voicemail after finding out that I was having success with my dog that ironically said, “I hear you are finding truffles with a dog. I’m fascinating! I mean, fascinated!”
So. I provided several pounds of truffles for the various uses of the festival. The Grand Truffle Dinner, lunches, etc…I’ve never harvested so many truffles in my life. This year was a horrible year for truffles in the Northwest. We had an extremely hard freeze in early December that wiped out all of the mushrooms and damaged the emerging truffles. Ever since, the harvest has been of marginal quality and only a fraction of what it would normally be. Out of a pound of truffles, perhaps 4-5 ounces are useful in the kitchen. This is abnormal, to say the least.
I had a profitable time eking secrets out of the masters on Friday and I hob-knobbed quite a bit. Met some amazing folks. Fun, fun, fun.
Was the festival a success?
Success? Not sure how to define that, but attendance was good, attitudes were good, awareness was elevated, good times were had. Information was disseminated. Yes, I guess it was a success.
What do you think the perception is of Oregon truffles in the rest of the world? Do think this is an accurate opinion?
I’m afraid the perception of Oregon truffles is tainted by some misconceptions that begin with methamphetamines. I’m running out of time, and I hate to be so obtuse and blunt, but that’s where it begins for me. Tweakers rake the proverbial shit out of the forest in search of these things, unearthing unripe specimens as early as October. They’re not really ripening until January. Culinarily, unripe truffles are worthless. Raking is unsightly, destructive, ILLEGAL in most cases and ruins the perception of the value of Oregon truffles on the market. I think a great many chefs have had terrible experiences with unripe and under ripe truffles from Oregon – rendering them all but worthless in their eyes. Unripe truffles produce deterrent compounds. Volatile organic compounds like toluene are fuelly and disgusting. No self-respecting animal would seek to eat these truffles. They suck. Ripe product is what the chef needs to experience in order to have
a good experience with our truffles in the kitchen.
I’m really not sure what the international perception is, but folks traveled here from far and wide to experience our truffles at the festival, and the mood was, well, festive. I wish the desperate and unscrupulous rake-harvesters would just QUIT IT. Get dogs, damnit. Arrrgh.
What do think of Oregon truffles?
They are divine. They elevate my food experiences to a higher plateau. I already forage a great deal of other edibles, and I grow some food myself. Morels and truffles kick asses. Truffles and candy caps rock houses. Porcini and truffles blow minds. Truffles just increase, by orders of magnitude, the joy of my taste buds. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Our truffles are excellent! The blacks are just ridiculously magical.
What do what the rest of the country to know about Oregon truffles?
I really want everyone to know about the difference between ripe/unripe truffles and the importance of animal harvest. I want folks to experience RIPE Oregon truffles in all their magnificence, and I want the US to be proud of its natural resources in the Northwest. I want people to hear the stories of successes with Oregon truffles in the fine dining milieu, and I want the well-deserved esteem to flow.
