Demares Horns age 10.9 of Eureka, Kansas or her question:

What exactly is a truffle?

Almost everyone enjoys the delicate flavor of a mushroom. Gourmets are those whose sense of flavor is extra keen. And gourmets say that the mushroom has a cousin with an even more enjoyable flavor   the truffle. The taste of the truffle is treasured by many who enjoy fine foods.

In appearance the truffle has nothing to brag about. It is a globe shaped vegetables often with a warty coat. Its color is a pasty white  brown or almost black. It may be between the size of a pea and an orange. But it is how the truffle grows that is most mysterious. The whole plant stays from a few inches to a foot underground. Unless it is dug ups it never sees the light of day.

The ancient Greeks enjoyed several kinds of truffle. They too were mystified as to how it grew. They believed that the truffle was caused by thunder an idea much more mysterious than the truth. The truffle plant is like the mushroom plant. It belongs to the fungus family. The actual plant is an underground network of threads. This mass is called the mycelium.

The truffle itself is a fruiting body. Like the mushrooms we eat it contains the seeds or spores. A mushroom has millions of tiny spores. A truffle contains no more than four large spores. They are within the fleshy stuff encased in the warty hide.

With so few spores you would expect the truffle to be rare„ And so it is. What;s mores no one so far has been able to plant one and coax it to grow. It refuses to be cultivated. Its favorite haunt is an open woodland. It likes to nestle among the roots of oak or hazel trees. Being a fungus plant. it needs rich soil full of decaying matter. A calcium soil full of old tree roots. suits it fine.

The truffle is most plentiful in certain parts of France and Germany. But truffle harvesting is not easy. The truffle is wild and very choosy about where it grows. It is hidden underground  Harvesters have a trick or two for tracking it down.

Human beings are not the only ones who enjoy the flavor of truffle. Burrowing animals love it.. So do worms. It is also enjoyed by certain flies. These flies hover over truffle ground at morning and evening. An expert truffler watches these flies and knows where to dig.

The truffle has a delicate odor as well as a delicate flavor. Some human beings have noses that can smell buried truffle. But certain animals have an even keener sense of smell. Pigs, dogs and even goats are good at smelling out buried truffle. These gifted animals are trained. They are led on a string and encoureged to sniff. When they get excited and start to dig they are fed a scrap of food, not a truffle which is worth dollars a pound  Then the owner gets out his spade and adds a new truffle to his harvest basket