Save the crumbles and juice for the oil. Don't waste the good stuff.

I've never done fresh truffles, but the conventional wisdom is to wrap each (assuming they're ready) in paper towel and store in an airtight container, changing the paper every day or two, then chill the jar in a gentle or warmer part of the fridge. I don't know how to tell if a truffle is ripe or how to ripen.

Don't cook truffles! You can put some in a sauce or stuffing type thing over very gentle heat. Otherwise, slice or shave them over the food, last thing.

And that is the end of what I kind of know. I know much more about eating them. :)

Well, I was hoping you meant the chocolate/cocoa covered variety, those I'm familiar with.

The others? I've never used fresh ones, so no help here either.

Annie

I sliced half a truffle, vacuum infused it into avocado oil. Took another half, put it in olive oil. Took several others, vacuum sealed and refrigerated. The remainder are in the fridge and hopefully I’ll think of something to do with them.

In Carpentras I’ve seen a huge amount of truffle sliced and soaked in eggs, preparatory to the best French style soft scrambled eggs ever. I’ll default to that but would like to find something else to do.

They keep in the veg drawer in the fridge, wrapped in a clean piece of kitchen paper,changed every day, in a jar or box for no longer than a week to 10 days, depending on whether or not they were cleaned before. Not cleaned ones will keep a few days longer than cleaned ones.

You can freeze fresh ones, sous vide, then grate them frozen over your food.

I've read that keeping in oil isn't an option as the oil doesn't conserve them.

What are yours like in oil?

It's a mushroom after all.

When you see the Italians grating them over omelettes, they use a ton at a time.....

Where were they dug up?

Winter ones are much superior to summer ones so you're lucky!

I've only ever had them in restaurants, so I can only mention dishes that I've had them in. It is truffle season so nearly all the nicer restaurants have them, and over the holidays the little truffle shop in the neighborhood was doing big business.

They really do pair well with a pasta dish, usually a simple truffle cream or butter/oil preparation with shaved truffle on top. Ravioli are often a choice. I've also seen/had it paired with scallops or especially in potato-based dishes. I think the neutral base can balance the flavor and let it shine, which I think why it appears often with a creamy sauce.

There is a classic lyonnais dish with chicken poached in a pig's bladder with truffle slices under the skin. As it steams the essence perfurms and flavors the meat. More are used in the sauce. I've had a northern Italian classic truffled tallegio melted over filet mignon (not the French pork one) but I think you could do the same with fresh truffle. Also on the rich side is tarte made with fois gras and truffle.

Mine uneducated opinions:

1. For fun, buy a good quality artificial truffle oil, so you can learn the true flavor of real truffles and artificial truffle flavor.

2. You will find advice that you should never store truffles in rice because rice is a strong dehydrator. I don’t think so. New rice just come out from a bag can be a good dehydrator because rice is artificially dried to avoid mold growth. But rice out of the bag soon becomes neutral. You will say, but you store rice with salt to keep salt dry. Actually it’s the other way around. Salt is a very powerful dehydrator. Salt used to melt ice will turn into water quickly in open air. Store truffle in glass in refrigerator with paper towel and changes paper towel every day? Do I need to remind you that cold glass is a very powerful dehydrator?

dcarch

They're not going to last long enough to worry overly, I wouldn't have thought!

So what did you do? Were they yummy or mediocre?

"Well, I was hoping you meant the chocolate/cocoa covered variety...."

Me, too!

My first thought for the fungi is some type of cream-based pasta sauce.