News from il Fustino oils & vinegars

Seasonal Products

Olio Nuovo
Organic White Truffle Oil (imported from France)
Truffle Salt

Olio Nuovo is the freshest possible extra virgin olive oil. Made from the first pressing of the new season, it bursts forth with a fresh, fruity, and peppery taste. Because the trapped olive particles have not yet settled, the oil is not clear, but cloudy. This lends the extra flavor and special something that true connoisseurs of olive oil crave. It must be consumed before March or the particles in the oil will begin to ferment; but don't worry, you will use it up way before then. We have only a limited supply; when it is gone it's gone (until next year). Come in and sample this unique product. On salads, the flavor just explodes. It's also great drizzled over bruschetta and roasted vegetables - or tossed with pasta. And, of course, it's great for dipping.

Hands holding truffles

Organic White Truffle Oil
Autumn is the time of year for Truffle Hunting in Europe so it seemed only fitting we feature "The Diamond of the Kitchen" in this month's Newsletter.

The origin of the word truffle appears to be the Latin term tuber, meaning "lump". A truffle is a fungal fruiting body that develops underground and relies on mycophagy for spore dispersal. The mycelia of truffles form symbiotic relationships with the roots of several tree species including beech, poplar, oak, birch, hornbeam, hazel, and pine. They prefer soils which are well drained and neutral or alkaline. Truffles are found buried between the leaf litter and the soil.

There are hundreds of species of truffles, but the fruiting body of some are highly prized as a food. The 18th-century French gastronome Brillat-Savarin called these truffles "the diamond of the kitchen". Edible truffles are held in high esteem in French, Spanish, northern Italian and Croatian cooking, as well as in international haute cuisine.

In addition to their native environments Truffles are now being cultivated in the United States, Spain, Sweden, New Zealand, Australia, Chile, and the UK.

Looking for truffles in open ground is almost always carried out with specially trained pigs (truffle hogs) or, more recently, dogs.

Truffle Hog	Truffle Dog
Keen sense of smell	Keen sense of smell
Innate ability to sniff out truffles	Must be trained
Tendency to eat truffles once found	Easier to control

Truffle hunting pig The female pig's natural truffle seeking as well as her usual intent to eat the truffle is due to a compound within the truffle similar to androstenol, the sex pheromone of boar saliva, to which the sow is keenly attracted.

Truffle oil is often used as a lower cost and convenient substitute for truffles, to provide flavoring or to enhance the flavor and aroma of truffles in cooking. Most of the "truffle oil" used in the U.S., however, does not contain any truffles. The vast majority is olive oil, which has been artificially flavored using a synthetic agent such as 2,4-dithiapentane. Daniel Patterson reported in the New York Times that "even now, you will find chefs who are surprised to hear that truffle oil does not actually come from real truffles." Many chefs continue to use inexpensive synthetic truffle oil, considering it to be "a reasonable substitute."