The Périgord truffle is normally round, and slightly bumpy. The flesh is noir/violet at maturity, with fine veins that are well marked and divided. It grows in hilly areas in symbiosis with hazelnut and oak trees, particularly in Mediterranean countries such as Spain, Italy and Greece. In continental Europe, the coolection time is from December to March, with the best quality being harvested in February. To the nose the perfume is of a dry mushroom, humus, and wet forests. In the mouth the truffle is crunchy and soft simultaneously; at first spicy with a slight taste of black radish, then a hint of hazelnut, with a finish of wooded forest floor, sometimes earth when tasting the skin.
Market value:
It is the finest black truffle, undoubtedly the King of all Truffles.
Note:
On the southern hemisphere it is cultivated with great success in Australia, and recently in various countries in South-America, thus widening the seasonal accessibility to these truffles.
Other names:
Truffle of Norcia, Black truffle, Truffe Noir
