Hello John!
Tuesday December 10 1996 12:23, John Prather wrote to Ian Hoare:
 IH>> around 240F/100 gms. That works out at around $220 a pound. I
 IH>> don't think I'll be getting much at that price, though I may get
 IH>> a couple or so.
 JP>  Are they (truffles) really that exquisite,
Hard to give an unequivocal answer, John. They have a sinful earthiness of 
flavour. I can't really describe them. Very powerful. I sometimes buy just 
one to slice thinly and put under the skin of a bird I'm cooking, or in a 
pƒt‚. Typical cost of that is under $10, which by French standards is a 
reasonable price to pay for utter luxury.
 JP>  or is it more of the mystique and the expense of finding them that
 JP> creates the price.
Well, you know how it is. Rarity always keeps the price of something up. Put 
it this way. A bottle of Ch Yquem typically costs around 800FF ($160). 
There's plenty of people who pay that, because it's "the best". I prefer to 
buy a bottle of Ch Suduiraut at under 200FF ($40) which is so close in 
quality that I sometimes even prefer it to Yquem of the same year. To spend 
$10 then on a truffle is relatively moderate! Truffles are not particularly 
expensive to find, but it can take a lot of time, and the investment in 
creating a plantation where they _hope_ truffles will grow, does make for an 
expensive product. I think it's all of these that makes for the price. they 
are very rare, there's nothing that can give the flavour - if you like it. 
AND there's a mystique indeed.
 JP> I think I'll stick to the more common fungus.  Although, an
 JP> occasional morel would fill my needs.
I don't think they're mutually exclusive. It's FAR easier for me to find 
fresh truffles tha fresh morels. We've been living here 8 winters, and in 
every year, every Saturday from mid Nov to mid Feb, I've been able to buy 
truffles if I want to. I've only ever seen fresh Morels once, I bought some 
at 360F a kg ($33 a pound). Not a lot, about 100gms. As for others, less 
exotic, I find them frequently in the woods, or easily in the markets.
 JP> HOURS.  I finally gave up, turned off the dup check and they ran in
 JP> like water under a bridge.
Yes MM imports a lot quicker without checking, normal really.
 IH>> want. I've got over 3500 main dish recipes alone, for example
 JP> 3500 mains.  Do you realize that if you fixed one a day it would
 JP> take almost 10 years to get them all tried  :)~
Yup, hence my other comment
 IH>> of which I might consider cooking and trying perhaps 100. (apart
Even if I were to do one a week (unlikely) that would keep me experimenting 
for 2 years!
 JP> or twice a week.  I will be putting some of those oldies up for
 JP> folks to check out.  These came from the very early days of FIDO.
Yes please. Thanks. Here are some fun recipes for you.
=== Cut ===
MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.04
      Title: Poppy Seed Or Walnut Roll (Paigli)
 Categories: Hungarian
      Yield: 2 servings
MMMMM---------------------------PASTRY--------------------------------
     12 oz Strong flour
    1/2 oz Yeast
      2 tb Sour cream
      1    Egg;  beaten with a little
           Water
      5 oz Butter; -=OR=-
      4 oz lard
      1 tb Milk
           Salt
MMMMM-----------------------WALNUT FILLING----------------------------
      5 oz Sugar
      2    3 tbs milk
      7 oz Ground walnuts *
      3 tb Apricot or apple jam -=OR=-
      2 md Apples; peeled cored grated
           Grated lemon rind
MMMMM---------------------POPPY SEED FILLING--------------------------
      5 oz Sugar
      6 fl Oz milk
           Poppy seed; ground
      1    Lemon rind grated
      2 tb Apple jam OR
      2 sm Apple; peeled cored grated
  NB. * When grinding walnuts, don't over work as they go easily to a
  paste. We started them in magimix, then finished them a small batch
  at a time for about 3 secs in a coffee grinder.
  Pastry
  ======
   Make a light pastry with the first set of ingredients
  above. Crumble the yeast into the milk, and rub the flour, together
  with a pinch of salt, with the fat. Add the liquids and work to a
  pastry. We made the whole of the pastry in the magimix. Leave to
  stand 15 mins in a moderately warm place. Cut the pastry into two
  equal halves and roll each out in turn to about the thickness of a
  matchstick (2 mm). Spread one half with poppy seed filling, the other
  with the walnut filling. You should NOT spread too thickly, and may
  find you have a bit too much filling. Roll them up, place in a baking
  tin, brush with egg wash, pierce in two or three places with a chefs
  fork. Allow to stand 10 mins and brush again with egg. Bake in a
  moderate oven (350-375øF 180øC) until done (35 to 40 mins). You may
  have to support the rolls, which have a distinct tendancy to collapse
  and spread.
  Walnut Filling
  ==============
    Make a syrup from sugar and milk, stir in the ground walnuts* , a little
grated lemon rind and the jam or grated apples. Use while still tepid.
  Poppy Seed filling
  ==================
  Make a syrup of the sugar and milk, add the poppy seed (recipe very 
nhelful
here, I suggest about 1/2 lb to make thick paste) and boil. Remove from heat 
and
stir in grated rind of a lemon and jam or grated apple.
   Recipe Hungarian Cookery Book (Venesz)
   MMed IMH c/o Georges' Home BBS 2:323/4.4
MMMMM
All the Best
Ian
--- GoldED 2.50.A0918+
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