If Alexandre Dumas, a great gourmet, as his "Letters on the kitchen" attest, wrote that "making the history of truffles... would be undertaking the history of the civilization of the world", Vittorio Palombo owner of Centro Tartufi Molise is satisfied with much less, for he the truffle is a sort of identity card of the quality, biodiversity and beauty of nature that belong to his Molise.
In the meantime, let's start from a fact that perhaps not everyone knows: Italy is the world's leading producer of white truffles and Molise alone - underlines Palombo - collects 40 percent of the total. While acknowledging Alba, Acqualagna, the Piedmontese provinces of Asti and Turin, for the prized white truffle, and Bagnoli Irpino in Norcia, Terni and other areas of Umbria and Tuscany, for the black one, of having contributed to attesting in the world the world-renowned Italian truffles, for the president of Centro Tartufi Molise, however, the numbers are all on the side of his region. That 40 percent says a lot and suggests that many truffles sold as originating from other territories have the unequivocal matrix of made in Molise. And it is no coincidence that the Guinness Book of Records in terms of truffles was awarded in 2014 to a mega tuber from the Molise Tartufi Center, a Tuber Magnatum Pico weighing a considerable 1,540 kg which beat the record held by Croatia up until then where in 2000 one kilo and 400 grams was found. An isolated case? But not even in a dream. Because in 2008, still in Molise, luck had kissed a researcher on the forehead who had found one weighing just over a kilo at auction in Macao where a tycoon had won it for 200.000 dollars
Today the prized truffle in the international collective imagination is a worldwide cult excellence of Made in Italy and drives a business of 500 million euros. In a study published by the University of Padua, entitled Truffle picking in Italy: an important socio-economic activity in the forestry sector”, over 70.000 truffle pickers in Italy were certified formally authorized to pick truffles by Regions, Provinces, Communities Mountains and Municipalities but in reality this number is greatly reductive of the real consistency of truffle gatherers scattered throughout the boot, which suggest the doubling of this important figure.
The average age of people authorized to harvest truffles is another socio-demographic parameter studied: the data collected describe a gradual and slow rejuvenation of the national population of truffle hunters from 1980 to 2015. The fact that the average age of truffle hunters has testifies to a gradual handover between old and new generations of truffle hunters, where the disappearance of the "old" there is a gradual diffusion of harvesting practices even among younger people or even, especially in recent times, among young people. A fact that more than any other helps to understand that truffle picking has long since ceased to be a hobby for the village elders to become a real job opportunity.
"A heritage to be preserved - underlines Vittorio Palombo, one of the founders and president of Federtartufi Molise - Confcommercio, an organization that today brings together the vast majority of companies processing and marketing the product which is increasingly important for the promotion of the Molise area and of its food and wine – and on which a significant growth of Molise and of the entire national sector can be based”.
His entrepreneurial history counts. His adventure was born in the 2000s "nourished by the immense passion absorbed since childhood by my father Angelo". But that passion over the course of 20 years has opened up to an entrepreneurial path of great depth. We started from the collection and sale of fresh truffles and then expanded it, thanks to modern machinery and processing techniques, to the sector of transformation and sale of truffles in glass bottles and bags. Today Centro Tartufi Molise is a consistent operating reality, with a turnover of €3.500.000,00. The company which employs 35 people exports to over 20 countries around the world, in Europe from Germany to France and Holland; in the Americas, from the United States to Canada, Venezuela, Brazil; in the Middle and Far East from Israel to Singapore and even Australia. About 35 tons of black summer truffle Tuber aestivum vitt were stocked for one year alone.
"Italy - explains Palombo - represents about 50% of our total turnover because the traditional gastronomic recipe up to now has traditionally favored the fresh but is looking with interest at the more practical multiform preserved product is always available".
In fact, it must be said that the creation of modern laboratories for the selection, collection and production of the excellent qualities of the Molise truffle has allowed a diversification of the artisan product by introducing new production methods that allow increasingly refined preparations for the tastes of passionate truffle consumers all over the world. Through the full respect of sustainability by the truffle gatherers (the famous "hunters"), of the great attention in selecting the best products, of the use of renewable energies, Palombo has reached the best quality standards, obtaining the ethical and environmental certification of organic company. In fact, the new plants only use renewable energy produced with photovoltaic panels, and the entire transformation process - from the raw material to the finished product - complies with international food safety standards for the customer.
Today the Centro Tartufi Molise produces products that represent all the possible variations of the truffle such as carpaccio, butter, creams, condiments, vinegar, oil, salt, honey in the variants with white and black truffles that end up in the kitchens of high-level chefs and on the tables of gourmets all over the world. It also ensures Bio, Kosher and Natural productions.
However, all of this is based on an identity vision of the truffle as the pride of an ancient tradition of these lands. "To obtain such a high quality of its products, the company has always chosen - underlines Palombo with great conviction - to establish a direct relationship of mutual trust with truffle hunters and with all those who, directly or indirectly, participate to the success of the enterprise”. A forward-looking approach, chosen by his father Angelo Palombo, and supported over time by Vittorio and also by his brothers Sandra and Angelo, which has meant that in pursuing the full satisfaction of workers and suppliers in respect of working conditions, each worker feeling a part of the project, worked aware of having given its contribution to spreading a concrete image of the quality of the products of the land of Molise in the world, but also of its ability to know how to make business of its food and wine traditions thus contributing to placing an important piece in the path development and growth of a region that still has a lot to say in this field.
Here are three recipes for a complete lunch based on truffles:
Crèpe stuffed with black truffle
Truffle flavored parmesan panna cotta
Black truffle mascarpone ice cream
The recipe for crepes stuffed with black truffle
Ingredients
For pasta:
250 grams of flour
50 g butter
100 ml of water
500 ml of milk
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
1 pinch of salt
For the filling:
200 g of fresh cream
Slices of ham (cooked or raw)
3 eggs
50 g of truffle
200 g of emmental
Preparation
For pasta:
in a bowl, add the wheat flour, 2 tablespoons of sugar and a pinch of salt. gradually pour in the milk and water while beating with a whisk, add the previously melted butter and finally the eggs.
let the dough rest for 30 / 45 minutes in a cool place.u Use a crepe pan to make them, lubricate them with a knob of butter and pour a ladle of batter. cook the crêpes for about 2 minutes per side, and return with a spatula.
For the filling:
To start, prepare your medium sized crêpes.
Mix 200 g of fresh cream and the 3 egg yolks. Prepare your pre-cut slices of ham, cut the truffle Julienne and set aside.
Put a crepe in a frying pan and add the cream and egg mixture, the ham, the truffle and the Emmenthal, once the cheese has melted, fold to your liking and serve.
The recipe for Parmesan panna cotta with white truffle honey
Ingredients:
60 grams of parmesan cheese
20 g of chopped onion
1/2 cube of chicken broth
2 pinches of oregano
1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar
200 ml of milk
200 ml cream
2 sheets of jelly
white truffle flavored honey
for the tiles: 80 g of Parmesan
Preparation:
Step 1: Soften the gelatin in a bowl of cold water for 5 min.
Phase 2: in a saucepan, heat the milk, cream, 1/2 cube of chicken stock, onion, Parmesan and oregano. Turn off the heat before it boils.
Step 3: Chop all the ingredients and add the softened gelatin and then the balsamic vinegar. Let cool.
Step 4: Pour the panna cotta into glasses, refrigerate for 4 hours. Before serving, add a little white truffle honey (just a little, otherwise you risk covering the flavors of the other ingredients).
Step 5: Prepare the tiles. Grate the Parmesan, cook for a few minutes under the grill.
Black truffle mascarpone ice cream recipe
Ingredients:
700 ml of whole milk
300 grams of mascarpone
260 grams of sugar
10 egg yolks
90 gr of black truffle
Utensils: an ice cream maker
Preparation:
Phase 1: in a saucepan, boil the milk and half the sugar (130g).
Step 2: Beat eggs, stir in remaining sugar until frothy.
Phase 3: add hot milk while continuing to mix.
Step 4: cut 6 truffle slices.
Step 5: Chop the remaining truffles into small pieces.
Phase 6: mix the mascarpone and chopped truffles in the hot cream, continuing to mix.
Step 7: let the cream cool down before putting it in the ice cream maker for 30/40 minutes.
Phase 8: garnish with the truffle slices.
