Hi all – slow info week, so brief post today. Charlotte Fresh recently found out about truffles being grown in nearby Hillsborough, NC. No, not the chocolate kind which I’m sure everyone loves as well. I’m talking about the expensive culinary truffle that makes chefs and consumers alike go ga-ga.
What is a truffle? According to Wikipedia, a truffle is the “fruiting body of an underground mushroom.” Basically an edible fungus. Sounds icky? Apparently, Wikipedia also says, “Edible truffles are held in high esteem in French, Spanish, northern Italian and Greek cooking, as well as in international haute cuisine.” See here for the full definition.
Who knew? There are about 80 truffle orchards in our very own state! It’s too bad we missed the 3rd Annual Truffle Festival in Asheville last week. I should have gotten the news out sooner – my bad.
Apparently, two local growers are having some kind of dispute over business plans and trade secrets. The dispute was even covered recently in the NY Times. Isn’t there enough room for everyone? I would think within Charlotte, the Triangle, the Piedmont Triad and Asheville, area chefs would love to try and feature the locally grown truffles.
Here is some more info about the truffles:
- http://www.trufflegrowers.com/Articles/ARTICLE_15.pdf
- http://www.nctruffles.com/
- http://www.garlandtruffles.com/
- http://www.keepyourforkfarm.com/aboutus.php
- http://www.bdft.com/
Random news: keep an eye on my blog for info about the upcoming TerraVita 2011 event (held in Chapel Hill last year) and The Carolinas Farm To Fork Restaurant Month planned for Charlotte this May.
Charlotte Fresh 