The Scent of Italian Truffles

"Italian truffles and French truffles are very similar," says resident Italian chef Giuliano Ungaro of the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel, when asked about the "Truffle’s Perfume" festival set for June 17 to 30 at the hotel’s Paparazzi Restaurant. "If you buy celery in Italy and you buy one in France, there isn’t going to be much difference between the two," he stresses.

Twenty-six-year-old Chef Giuliano, who has been with Paparazzi for nine months now, is dead set on making sure that Filipinos discover what Italian cuisine is really all about during the festival. "Unfortunately, here in Manila there is a bad view of Italian cuisine," he opines. "It is not all pasta and pizza, although all that is changing here at my restaurant."

This is exactly the reason behind the truffles festival–to better acquaint Filipinos with the different flavors of Italian cuisine. "This is the season in Italy for truffles and this is why we must have it now," explains Giuliano.

And just what is a truffle?

It is a tuberous mushroom that grows underground near the roots of trees. A kilo of this precious crop comes with a price tag of P27,000. What makes the truffles so expensive, Giuliano explains at the sight of our surpise, is that man has yet to come up with a way to cultivate them. In Italy, pigs and dogs are trained to hunt for them. "So, one day the dogs and pigs go hunting for the truffles, and when they find them they dig them up," shares Giuliano.

The truffles are harvested at night from spots known only to the well-trained dogs and pigs. "But the dogs are better than the pigs because when the pigs find the truffles they eat them. The dogs don’t–they give them to the truffle pickers," Giuliano quips.

He adds that it takes time to train the dogs and pigs to become good summer truffle hunters. When the dogs are still pups and the pigs piglets, the pickers give the animals a little taste of the truffles so that they can learn to hunt them out. "They use Cocker Spaniels and Irish Setter dogs for these hunting trips," he reveals.

All the talk about summer truffles got us hungry, so Chef Giuliano whipped up a few dishes to be featured during the festival. But before that, we got to see an Italian Summer Truffle up close. I can tell you that it wasn’t such a looker. Actually, at first glance, I though it was black broccoli.

But because the truffles command such a high price, it is possible that for the six-course meal in the festival, Chef Giuliano may use only one truffle.

‘Nuff said. The meal prepared began with a Potato and Monk Fish Soufflé in truffles broth. The soufflé was cream-based, with shavings of truffles sprinkled on top of the monk fish. I took a bite of the potato which I dipped in the truffles broth and found the blending of the flavors a mixture of spicy, salty and definitely different. Not like any mushroom that I had ever tasted before, that’s for sure. I did try to take a small bite of the truffles, which I found a bit bitter for my taste buds.

The other interesting dishes in the festival are Goose Liver and Truffle Cannelloni with Apple braised in port wine and Thyme-marinated Stockfish in its own puree whipped with truffles. For the more adventurous, there is a rabbit casserole with stew celery and truffles.

But the best part–for me anyway–was the dessert, Mascarpone and Truffles Semifreddo in Cage. The blend of flavors in this light and refreshing dessert was great. "I mixed in some truffles which are finely ground so that there is just a hint of the flavor of the truffles," reveals Giuliano.

Giuliano says there are more Italian dishes Filipinos will enjoy since there are many more festivals planned for the coming months and Chef Giuliano is excited about them all.

"We are continually making the menu better. I hope that people who come here will come not only for the pasta, but to sample authentic Italian cuisine," stresses Giuliano.

Obviously the Summer Italian Truffle’s Perfume Festival is just a whiff–but certainly a most flavorful one–of many Italian flavors yet to come.