A while back we posted about the heady nether-region-esque delights of the most over-your-budget fungus, truffles. Recently we got our burn-blistered hands on the cheaper, subtler cousin to the brutally perfumed tubers of the wintertime: T. aestivum.
A fraction of the cost of the late bloomers, these little dirt bombs have a much more delicate flavor which requires very little effort to coax into something wonderful. Instead of the super potent-garlicky bliss of white truffles (well over $70/oz) or the blood-sex-death flavors of Perigord Black truffles ($40/oz), summer truffles will cost you about $20 per ounce. They taste more mushroomy than their pricier counter parts, but still impart a sweetly sexual flavor to simple dishes.
Shell out a Jackson, buy some fresh corn from your local farmer’s market and blow your own mind without the hot kitchen and bloated belly you’d regularly get from slaving over some silly risotto.
Sweet Tuber Sweat Salad
1 summer truffle
2 ears of sweet corn
2 Tbs Spanish XVO (look for Arbequina)
1 bunch watercress
1 red jalapeno
1 green jalapeno
1 Tsp. fleur de sel
1 Tsp. ground black pepper
1. Using a mandolin, a very sharp vegetable peeler or, in a pinch, a cheese grater, shave the truffle into oblivion over a bowl. Cover the shaved truffle with olive oil and set aside.
2. Shuck your corn. Now, carefully slice off all the kernels. Combine with the truffle and oil and toss.
3. Wash the watercress, and snip off all its leaves. Serve the corn-truffle combo atop the watercress. Garnish with sliced Jalapenos and Black Pepper.
Beverage: Jolly Pumpkin’s Oro De Calabaza
Soundtrack: Yo La Tengo’s cover of “Little Honda”
