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US plans mass production of the truffle
The Telegraph ^ | 3/11/2007 | James Langton
Posted on 03/10/2007 9:10:55 PM PST by bruinbirdman
The French have fought a losing battle with the vineyards of California and suffered the indignity of having their elegant pommes frites renamed "Freedom Fries".
Now they face a new challenge from America over their most highly-prized and aromatic delicacy.
Just a few miles from the birthplace of frontier pioneer Davy Crockett, mushroom expert Tom Michaels has unlocked the secret of commercial production of the famous Périgord black truffle.
In a breakthrough that could one day make an American-grown Périgord truffle as ubiquitous worldwide as the Big Mac, Mr Michaels has produced his first crop of the pungent nodules in his orchard, deep in rural Tennessee.
Seven years after planting acres of hazelnut trees impregnated with the spores of Tuber melanosporum, the 59-year-old scientist discovered just a few weeks ago that his experiment had finally born fruit. Recalling the moment of discovery, he said "I was jumping around yelling 'Eureka'."
Mr Michaels estimates that his first crop of Périgord truffles could weigh as much as 150lb. With French truffles currently priced at around £850 per pound, he is sitting on a potential gold mine worth at least £120,000.
Confirmation that the truffle was the real thing came later in the kitchen of the famed French chef Daniel Boulud, whose eponymous restaurant in Manhattan boasts two Michelin stars.
Mr Boulud, who was raised on his family's farm near Lyon, is said to have filled his nostrils with the heady aroma of Mr Michaels's truffles and declared: "This is it. The first time in America. This Tennessee truffle is the real thing.''
Until now Périgord black truffles have been grown almost exclusively in Europe, with the lion's share coming from France. Once widely grown in the 19th century, French truffle production plummeted over the past century as ancient cultivation techniques were lost and prices skyrocketed. Small quantities of commercial Périgord truffles have been grown in Tasmania and New Zealand, but the scale of Mr Michaels's harvest is unprecedented.
French truffle growers are said to deliberately restrict production to keep prices high.
A recent dinner for millionaire gourmets at a Bangkok hotel, which included three-and-a-half ounces of Périgord truffles shaved over each plate of the fish course, cost more than £12,000 a head.
Mr Michaels's success represents the vanguard of the American black truffle industry. Although the region is best known for growing tobacco, the acidity of the soil and the local climate are an almost exact match with the Périgord region of France.
Truffle cultivation is funded by the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission, which aims to encourage tobacco farmers to diversify into less harmful crops. Some 125 truffle orchards have started in the region with some already producing the coveted tubers.
Aside from a slight falling out in 2003, when France's criticism of US foreign policy led to the symbolic renaming of French fries as "Freedom fries", America has for the most part retained a love affair with French cuisine. The same is true of the truffle.
The Telegraph ^ | 3/11/2007 | James Langton
Posted on 03/10/2007 9:10:55 PM PST by bruinbirdman
The French have fought a losing battle with the vineyards of California and suffered the indignity of having their elegant pommes frites renamed "Freedom Fries".
Now they face a new challenge from America over their most highly-prized and aromatic delicacy.
Just a few miles from the birthplace of frontier pioneer Davy Crockett, mushroom expert Tom Michaels has unlocked the secret of commercial production of the famous Périgord black truffle.
In a breakthrough that could one day make an American-grown Périgord truffle as ubiquitous worldwide as the Big Mac, Mr Michaels has produced his first crop of the pungent nodules in his orchard, deep in rural Tennessee.
Seven years after planting acres of hazelnut trees impregnated with the spores of Tuber melanosporum, the 59-year-old scientist discovered just a few weeks ago that his experiment had finally born fruit. Recalling the moment of discovery, he said "I was jumping around yelling 'Eureka'."
Mr Michaels estimates that his first crop of Périgord truffles could weigh as much as 150lb. With French truffles currently priced at around £850 per pound, he is sitting on a potential gold mine worth at least £120,000.
Confirmation that the truffle was the real thing came later in the kitchen of the famed French chef Daniel Boulud, whose eponymous restaurant in Manhattan boasts two Michelin stars.
Mr Boulud, who was raised on his family's farm near Lyon, is said to have filled his nostrils with the heady aroma of Mr Michaels's truffles and declared: "This is it. The first time in America. This Tennessee truffle is the real thing.''
Until now Périgord black truffles have been grown almost exclusively in Europe, with the lion's share coming from France. Once widely grown in the 19th century, French truffle production plummeted over the past century as ancient cultivation techniques were lost and prices skyrocketed. Small quantities of commercial Périgord truffles have been grown in Tasmania and New Zealand, but the scale of Mr Michaels's harvest is unprecedented.
French truffle growers are said to deliberately restrict production to keep prices high.
A recent dinner for millionaire gourmets at a Bangkok hotel, which included three-and-a-half ounces of Périgord truffles shaved over each plate of the fish course, cost more than £12,000 a head.
Mr Michaels's success represents the vanguard of the American black truffle industry. Although the region is best known for growing tobacco, the acidity of the soil and the local climate are an almost exact match with the Périgord region of France.
Truffle cultivation is funded by the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission, which aims to encourage tobacco farmers to diversify into less harmful crops. Some 125 truffle orchards have started in the region with some already producing the coveted tubers.
Aside from a slight falling out in 2003, when France's criticism of US foreign policy led to the symbolic renaming of French fries as "Freedom fries", America has for the most part retained a love affair with French cuisine. The same is true of the truffle.
