IT'S NATIONAL TRUFFLE DAY - Orange Truffle Martini Time!

Of course, I'm referring to the chocolate truffle - a confection of a soft chocolate ganache rolled in a dusting of cocoa powder - but this is not the only truffle edible out there.  In fact, today's chocolate truffle is actually a dessert homage to an edible fungus that is highly prized in gourmet cuisine!

Truffles are actually the fruiting body of an underground mushroom that grows near the roots of various trees.  Wild truffles of the Tuber genus have been considered the "diamond of the kitchen" by chefs and gourmets for centuries for their deep, earthy flavor and smell.  There are references to the use of truffles in cuisine as far back as the fourth century B.C. and there are mentions of truffles in Roman cooking as well.

Pigs and even some dogs were trained to hunt out these difficult to find delicacies and, until the 1800s, it was only these wild truffles that were available, making this delicacy a very expensive addition to the table. (The record price for wild truffles was $330,000 US a kilogram in 2010!)

As for the chocolate truffle, whether created by M. Dufour in Chambéry, France in December 1895 or by the famous chef Auguste Escoffier in the 1920s, it was obviously named after the fungal truffle because the dusting of cocoa powder used to set the soft chocolate ganache truffle gave it the earthy appearance of a the coveted wild truffle.



My Orange Truffle Martini is inspired by an orange infused chocolate truffle I favor and it's a lovely way to celebrate National Truffle Day!