Here is part two of this descriptive, delightful piece.
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There are certain essentials to the well-being of the truffle; these are that the soil should be shallow and light, and that it should not be subjected to frost.
Shallow the soil must be, as it lives on the minute fibrous roots of the oak, and cannot endure to seek these deep in the earth. Consequently, where the oak cannot drive its tap-root far down, but must send out lateral roots near the surface, there the truffle thrives. The truffle, moreover, hates heavy soils, clay it cannot tolerate. The soil must be light that it may expand to its full development. Frost, when it touches the tuber, kills it, and it rots. The shallow soil that covers the limestone hills of Quercy, of Perigord, and of Provence, suits the truffle exactly, so does the mild climate, and the absence of intense frosts. The black truffle, gathered in winter, grows abundantly to the south and west of the great central tableland of France. On that it cannot live, owing to the cold, but it thrives on its sun-baked spurs. The summer truffle, however, is found so far north as Paris, and is gathered in tolerable quantities in Burgundy and Champagne. It is, however, considered inferior to the black winter truffle.
Juvenal represents a certain Alledius as exclaiming, "O Lybia, keep your corn, but send us your truffles."
The tuber has been in request by gourmands ever since, but never perhaps was the demand for it greater than at present. In Paris no good dinner is served without truffles, they are as much expected as olives; and the demand has provoked the formation of artificial fields of truffle-culture. Nothing indeed is more simple, nothing demands less labour; but then patience is required, for the truffle does not appear till the oak plants are ten or twelve years old.
The first token that the truffles have attacked the fibrous roots of the tree is the withering away of the herbage in a circle round the trunk. The truffle only attacks the delicate fibrous tissue of root, and that only when spread near the surface. As the tree grows older, the ring of dead herbage widens round it; but after some years the oak becomes so robust that it is able to resist the attacks of this tuber, and an oak of a good ripe age has them not. The truffle may be likened to certain diseases to which children are liable, but from which adults are free.
In forming a nursery of truffles, the oak-glands must be sown in a light soil, in a sunny aspect, in a position well drained, and also where the rock is near the surface, so as to force the tree to expand its roots laterally. It cannot bear the frost, as already said, and therefore the true black truffle is found only within a well-determined zone in France, where the mild climate and the friable soil lying on limestone exactly accord with its tastes. Only the grey tuber that is harvested in summer, a very inferior truffle, is found north of the great central plateau of France, and this reaches its extreme northerly point of appearance about Paris.
The truffle is a round or potato-shaped tuber about an inch and a half to two inches in diameter. It has a rough, crinkled, or blistered surface. When cut, the section shows a dark marbled texture. The truffle is aromatic, and indeed it is by the scent that it is discovered. It begins to grow in April, and is ripe in November. It is said never to be quite good till after the first frosts. The time for truffle-gathering is from the 20th November to the 12th February, or thereabouts. There are various kinds of truffles, besides the grey summer truffle. These latter have smooth skins, and vulgarly go by the name of dogs' noses, because in texture they resemble the nose of the dog. But there are black, grey, and yellow dogs' noses.
The search for the truffle is made in several ways; one is by looking for the mark—that is to say, a fissure in the soil, formed by the swelling of the tuber. When this is observed, and the truffier does not think the tuber is quite ripe, he puts a stick or stone on the spot to mark it.
Another method is to watch the fly. This insect hovers over the truffle-beds, to enter the crack in the soil and deposit its eggs in the flesh of the tuber, on which the larva feeds till the period of change, precisely as flies lay their eggs in the mushroom. This is, however, a tedious method, demanding time and patience, and it is used only by the truffiers who are too poor to supply themselves with a truffle-hunting pig or dog.
The third way is that of employing a pig,—generally a sow,—which scents out where the precious tubers are. All pigs are not alike good questers. Some have a keener scent than others; some are more amenable to discipline; some are lazy; some are enthusiasts in the pursuit. In fact, a good truffle-hunting pig must have superior intelligence and also certain moral qualities.
The odour of the truffle is potent, and exhales freely through the porous soil.
A pig must not be overstrained. After a while, he or she gets tired, loses temper, and refuses to snuff out truffles. Accordingly, the quest is made in the early morning or in the afternoon, with an interval for rest between. So keen is the scent of a good truffle-setter, that a sow has been known to run in a direct line of 150 feet, snuffing towards a point where, some two or three inches underground, lurks a truffle.
When the pig is led to the place where the search has to be made, he goes about snuffing the soil, and then, having discovered the spot he seeks, halts and grunts. If he begins to grub, and dares to take the tuber in his [graphic][merged small]
mouth, a blow of a stick on the snout is his punishment, his jaws are forcibly opened, and the truffle is liberated. But a trained pig never ventures to touch the truffle; he merely indicates the spot, and waits looking on till his master has picked the tuber out of the earth with his fingers; then he receives as his reward a bit of bread. It is astonishing how much intelligence the beast displays on these occasions: the expression of self-importance that comes into his small eyes when he has marked a spot; the impatience with which he watches his master's attempts to unearth the truffle; and his vexation and resentment if he be not paid for his labours with promptitude,—all show intelligence.
We can understand a French savant, after describing it and the uses to which it is put,—its flesh for meat, its bristles for brushes, its skin for binding books,—exclaiming, "Verily the pig is an encyclopaedic beast!"
There is great difference in sows. Some are much more intelligent than others, understand their duties better than others, are more amenable to instruction; some have keener scent than others. Again, some have nobler moral qualities than have other sows; are less disposed to sulk, are more ready to resign the discovered delicacy, find more zest in the pursuit. They have to go through long discipline, and a good truffle-questing sow fetches a high price; from £7 to £1$.
When the truffle season approaches, the sow has to have her feet put in order. They are tender with treading on the litter in her stye. They have to be trimmed and practised on hard ground, till they grow firm and strong, and she is able to climb the hillsides and run over stones.
Nevertheless, the sow cannot work for many hours on a stretch. She tires, and in the middle of the day loses all interest in her work. Sometimes she proves restive, irritable, and perverse. She is taken out in the early morning, then given a long rest in the middle of the day and taken out again in the afternoon.
The fourth way of searching for truffles is with a dog. Any kind serves. The dog, when trained, pats the ground with his front paw, and thus indicates to his master the spot where he is to grub. The dog has certain advantages over the pig; he tires less readily, and he can climb better over the rough ground, that hurts the feet of the pig and wearies him speedily. But, on the other hand, the dog is more subject to distraction; a hare, a rabbit—any living animal draws him away; and it is found impossible to search for truffles with several dogs: they play together, they distract each other's attention; whereas the pigs act independently, and go on steadily with their work till their patience or powers fail. The pig has not the levity of the dog, but then he has his humours; he can be terribly perverse, and sometimes, in a sulk, will absolutely refuse to work. Certainly, among the peasants the pig is preferred to the dog in truffle-hunting.
A dog has to be trained to fungus-hunting, whereas this comes naturally to the pig. Finely sliced truffles are mixed with the food of the dog when young, so as to imbue him with a liking for the flavour, and to regard the scent of the truffle as indicative of a meal in store. The next step is to take the dog into the woods, and place meat seasoned with truffles under the soil, and let him search it out.
There is a fifth way of searching for truffles, but that is one only pursued by poachers. It consists in sounding for them.
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Part III Tomorrow! I hope you join me for more!
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