FoodBanter.com - View Single Post - Where to Buy Fresh Truffles Near the Valley

wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I would like to find a good place to buy fresh truffles,
> particularly Italian white truffles, in the San Fernando Valley

The ones you seek by the way are the "Piedmont" white, Tuber magnatum
[pico]; or if I could suggest a back-up, the "Périgord" black, Tuber
melanosporum. These are the classic strongly aromatic truffles of
legend. (You can find out more by searching online under those
phrases; some info is in a posting "Truffles: A few basics,"
rec.food.cooking 7Aug05, ).
I've tried a couple of samples of Tuber oregonense ("previously T.
gibbosum") from Oregon, and some of the other much-less-expensive
secondary species lately popular (and occasionally found sold as the
classic species, fraudulently, in the United States). They were
creditable, unique wild mushrooms but different in aroma and 10-1000
times less intense.

But back to the practical question: When I've bought truffles, live,
in the past in California it was either direct fom an importer who
supplied restaurants, or else via a specialty food retailer having a
relationship with such an importer. If I were in a new area and wanted
to find such a "connection" quickly, I'd approach restaurants that use
truffles (preferably, after dining there!) and ask the kitchen about it
(making it obvious that it is not a case of a competitor trying to
hijack the restaurant's source). A local hotshot food writer or
journalist, reachable e.g. via a major newspaper's Web site, might be
another source of info.

Hope this helps. Good luck! --MH