MUSKY, nutty, earthy, rich in umami. Nature was having a good day when it created the truffle, gifting chefs a flavour M so prized that six-figure sums have been known to change hands for single specimens. 'Anyone who does not declare himself ready to leave Paradise or Hell for such a treat,' wrote the French author Maurice Goudeket in the 1950s, 'is not worthy to be born again. That's high praise for an ectomycorrhizal fungus.
France and Italy often hog the headlines where truffles are concerned, but these fragrant, warty treasures are also found in abundance in the UK. They're not always identical to the Continental varieties-you won't find the much-eulogised black Périgord growing wild here-but high-quality truffles can still be unearthed in many corners of Britain, not least the famous swathe of hills between Bath and Banbury.
'There are definitely truffles to be found in the Cotswolds, proclaims James Feaver of The English Truffle Company. The geology ticks all the boxes.' He tells me the story of a retired engineer from Minchinhampton, who was irked by squirrels excavating his lawn until he realised the animals were, in fact, digging for truffles. Rather than cashing in, however, the man gathered his bounty each autumn and enjoyed grated truffle on his scrambled eggs and potato cakes, living the high life in his patch of Gloucestershire. 'Historically, parts of the Cotswolds around Stroud and Dursley have seen good truffle finds, adds Mr Feaver. 'The Bath and Ciren-cester areas, too.
Denne historien er fra September 21, 2022-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra September 21, 2022-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Save our family farms
IT Tremains to be seen whether the Government will listen to the more than 20,000 farming people who thronged Whitehall in central London on November 19 to protest against changes to inheritance tax that could destroy countless family farms, but the impact of the good-hearted, sombre crowds was immediate and positive.
A very good dog
THE Spanish Pointer (1766–68) by Stubbs, a landmark painting in that it is the artist’s first depiction of a dog, has only been exhibited once in the 250 years since it was painted.
The great astral sneeze
Aurora Borealis, linked to celestial reindeer, firefoxes and assassinations, is one of Nature's most mesmerising, if fickle displays and has made headlines this year. Harry Pearson finds out why
'What a good boy am I'
We think of them as the stuff of childhood, but nursery rhymes such as Little Jack Horner tell tales of decidedly adult carryings-on, discovers Ian Morton
Forever a chorister
The music-and way of living-of the cabaret performer Kit Hesketh-Harvey was rooted in his upbringing as a cathedral chorister, as his sister, Sarah Sands, discovered after his death
Best of British
In this collection of short (5,000-6,000-word) pen portraits, writes the author, 'I wanted to present a number of \"Great British Commanders\" as individuals; not because I am a devotee of the \"great man, or woman, school of history\", but simply because the task is interesting.' It is, and so are Michael Clarke's choices.
Old habits die hard
Once an antique dealer, always an antique dealer, even well into retirement age, as a crop of interesting sales past and future proves
It takes the biscuit
Biscuit tins, with their whimsical shapes and delightful motifs, spark nostalgic memories of grandmother's sweet tea, but they are a remarkably recent invention. Matthew Dennison pays tribute to the ingenious Victorians who devised them
It's always darkest before the dawn
After witnessing a particularly lacklustre and insipid dawn on a leaden November day, John Lewis-Stempel takes solace in the fleeting appearance of a rare black fox and a kestrel in hot pursuit of a pipistrelle bat
Tarrying in the mulberry shade
On a visit to the Gainsborough Museum in Sudbury, Suffolk, in August, I lost my husband for half an hour and began to get nervous. Fortunately, an attendant had spotted him vanishing under the cloak of the old mulberry tree in the garden.
