Thursday, May 24, 2007

Moroccan truffles - a rare delight


Shopping in the central market yesterday, we discovered the small plastic container on the bottom left of the picture above. Truffles! The discovery was even more exciting because rather than pay the very expensive prices of 80 to 100 Euro per kilo as you might in Europe, the truffles were only 80 dirhams per kilo.

These particular truffles came from Bouarfa, which is between Oujda and Figuig near the Algerian border, but they are often available by the roadside in various parts of Morocco.

Truffles are best used a few days after they are harvested, but for those who want the flavour all year round there are ways of preserving them or making truffle oil. Having purchased a kilo we made a truffle emulsion (blending with oil) and also stored some in light olive oil to create truffle oil.

A few fresh truffles grated through fettuccine was the first test - and it proved to be perfect.


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3 comments:

Jillian said...

Terfesse!!! Apparently they're popular with Jews in Morocco, according to my husband's mother. We bought them for 50 dh/kilo outside of Rabat. Yet, I could not figure out for the life of me how to cook with them!

mohamed said...

hello good post yes truffles r so expensive in many countries try to read this article

http://www.shvoong.com/writing-and-speaking/2191851-truffles/

mohamed said...

hello good post yes truffles r so expensive in many countries try to read this article

http://www.shvoong.com/writing-and-speaking/2191851-truffles/