What are “True” vs. “False” truffles?
In Europe, the term “truffle” in the very strictest (“true”) sense has historically only referred to those hypogeous (belowground) fungi that were gourmet edibles, primarily in the genus Tuber. Tubers are members of a larger grouping of fungi called Ascomycetes. For some folks, only Tubers and their close relatives are considered “true truffles” (all others being “false truffles”), and for other folks all hypogeous Ascomycetes (irrespective of culinary qualities) are called “true truffles”. However, there are many, many other perfectly nice species of hypogeous fungi, both Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes, that are not particularly prized as food outside the squirrel community. Nowadays many folks have discarded the “true truffle” and “false truffle” distinctions for a more egalitarian nomenclature, and are quite comfortable simply calling all hypogeous fungi TRUFFLES. Back to top…
