Diamonds of the Kitchen
Truffles have been called the diamonds of the kitchen.
You may know the expensive chocolate truffle,
a dessert in the shape of a small
rough ball, but
do you know the fungus that it takes
its name from? This highly-prized
ingredient used in European cooking is famous for its
unique smell, which some people
describe as similar to ___1___ of goat's
urine, and strong
flavor. This
might not sound appealing,
but truffles can sell for ___2___ NT$180,000 a kilogram.
Where do these extremely expensive fungi
come from ? Many kinds of truffle grow all over the
world, North America and China ___3___. However, the most
famous truffles, black and white, have always grown in
Italy, France, and Spain. There, truffle hunting is big
business. Professional truffle hunters
are careful to keep the
_(4)_ of their favorite sites
secret. They train pigs and dogs to find the
buried truffles because both of these animals
are very good at ___5___ the fungus.
The pigs'' mouths have to be covered, though; ___6___, the
truffles would become extremely expensive pig food.
Black truffles look like small, rough potatoes. The
real prize is the rarer white truffle. White truffles
look like small white stones, but they can grow ___7___
bigger than the black truffle. The biggest white truffle
found recently, at around 1.5 kilograms, was sold for an
astronomical sum of more
than NT$900,000.
At these prices, truffles are one of the most
expensive foods in the world. It's hard to explain
their strange allure, but as a food
writer once noted, they might be less
esteemed if they were cheaper. |