The Summer Truffle (Tuber aestivum & uncinatum)

One of the few truffles available in the truffle "off-season" the black summer truffle (Tuber aestivum) makes up a large amount of the commercial truffle products on the market and costs a fraction of the price of the more highly prized Tuber melanosporum. It's also a confusing truffle, having (at least on a genetic level) a sibling that grows in the fall known as the Burgundy truffle that costs a lot more. Today we'll take a deep dive into what you need to know about them.

Background

The black summer truffle has a wide range and is found in most countries across Western Europe. As the name implies, it ripens in the summer from around May to August. The mildest tasting truffle, they have a mild, mushroom-forward flavor.

While historically harvested wild, T. aestivum and most other truffles are now cultivated around the world. Thanks to genetic sequencing, last year my father and I learned we're the owners of the first inoculated truffle orchard in Minnesota. The trees are hosting T. aestivum and are about 15 years old now. I'll share updates on that as time goes on.

Although both species are in the genus Tuber, black summer truffles are very different from the more famous Tuber melanoporum or black winter truffle. They have a light brown, hazelnut-colored interior (gleba) compared to the notably darker color of more expensive species.

The peridium (outer skin material) of T. aestivum and T. uncinatum is also visibly different and composed of notably raised geometric bumps, where the surface of T. melanosporum is more finely textured.

Use In Commercial Products

As summer truffles are cheaper than others they're one of the most common varieties used to make value-added truffle products. Truffle juice, frozen truffles, canned peelings in juice, sliced truffles in oil, truffle salt, and plenty of other things.

I'm getting ahead of myself, but if you've ever splurged on one of those products and were underwhelmed, it's because the products are made from truffles that could be 10 times cheaper than the more expensive species that grab headlines. Just as with foraging wild mushrooms Latin names are important, but they may be absent from labels.

Pricing and labeling of truffle products is under-standardized, so it's important to read the fine print before splurging. I avoid products that include "truffle flavoring" as it's usually just commodity truffle oil.

With buying fresh summer truffles, make sure to inspect them: they should be beige to light khaki in the interior-not dark brown or watery as you can see below.

Summer Truffles & Burgundy Truffles

Tuber uncinatum, the Burgundy truffle, is a sort of off-shoot or variation of Tuber aestivum with a superior flavor. T. uncinatum has a similar, mushroom-hazelnut taste of T. aestivum but it's stronger, with rich notes of truffle in the background.

Another difference between the two is that T. aestivum grows in warm weather closer to the surface while T. uncinatum grows in cool weather, deeper in the soil. How that might translate to a difference in flavor making one roughly four times more expensive than the other is above my pay grade.

Are Summer Truffles Good?

Like everything there's pros and cons. The big pro is that they can be nearly 10 times cheaper than Tuber melanosporum. On the other hand, the flavor is mild and won't change your life. One of my chef friends compared some he bought to shaving cardboard on risotto.

Summer truffles currently have a price range of around $100-200/lb. By comparison, Chilean black truffles now available in the summer months run around $1000 / lb. The price tells you a lot, and you get what you pay for here. Freshness is also very important.

Out of all the truffles I've eaten, summer truffles are the most mild tasting. They have only a subtle truffle aroma and more of a nutty, mushroom-forward taste. On the bright side, the lower price opens up options in the kitchen that are tough to afford with more expensive truffles, as I'll discuss below.

General Cooking

To have a good experience cooking with summer truffles you need to use a lot of them. Where I generally recommend ½ oz of the more expensive black truffles per serving, with summer truffles, I double that to at least 1 oz, and I'll add more if I can.

Of course summer truffles can be used anywhere you'd use a regular truffle, which typically means raw or gently warmed in minimalist preparations to avoid competing flavors. Shave them onto some scrambled eggs, over a bowl of buttered noodles, or on a steak and they'll work just fine.

Just like other truffles, the aroma, while much weaker than their cousins, still makes a good infusion. One of the best ways to preserve them is truffle carpaccio slices in oil.

Another good preserve to make is tartufata, which is basically truffles and cooked mushrooms ground with olive oil, salt, maybe a little garlic and thyme. You can adjust the ratio of truffles to mushrooms according to the potency of your truffles.

With their milder flavor, these are good truffles for mixing with other mushrooms. If you came to my dinner in the driftless last year, the morel and truffle risotto below will look familiar.

As their flavor is more mushroomy and savory, I typically do not use them in sweet dishes. As their aromas are more complex, T. melanosporum, T. brumale and others can be used to make ice cream, honey, infused maple syrup and other sweet things.

Special thanks to my friend Besart of Marina Tartufi / Trufflecart.com for sponsoring the truffles so I can share them with you. They started selling truffles from around the Mountains of Kosovo and the Balkan Peninsula, and have been in the business for nearly 30 years. Costco is currently carrying some of their products.

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