FermenteaWhere food goes to change
Mushrooms
Tuber borchii, the bianchetto truffle, is a pale, pungent truffle that grows with trees and is now cultivated in Italy. It is used as a seasoning and is distinct from the costly white truffle, Tuber magnatum.
The bianchetto truffle, Tuber borchii, is a truffle that forms underground in a mycorrhizal partnership with the roots of trees. Its flesh is pale, and the catalogue describes it as a pungent truffle used as a seasoning. It is valued for a strong aroma rather than the rarity that gives Tuber magnatum its price, and the two are kept apart in the catalogue record.
Older texts sometimes used the name Tuber albidum for this fungus, and the catalogue records that alias. Growers and researchers now treat the bianchetto as a species of its own.
Cultivation of this truffle has become established in Italy over the last decade, and it has been introduced to other countries, including New Zealand. A 2015 review by Zambonelli, Iotti and Hall reports good results for the cultivation of Tuber melanosporum, Tuber aestivum and Tuber borchii, and notes that Tuber magnatum has not yet been successfully cultivated.
Field results from a coastal trial at Marina di Ravenna are recorded in the research. Pine seedlings inoculated with the fungus began producing in 1994, and over the following four years the trial averaged 7 kg of truffles per hectare. The same work reports that the bianchetto fruits early, at about four years in pines, and that it grows with a wide range of host trees, including holm oak, hazel, poplar and pine. Its broad ecological tolerance is the reason growers cite for planting it in areas unsuited to the more valuable truffles.
A grower guide gives the harvest period in Italy as January 15 to April 30, which is the winter to spring season. That guide is commercial rather than peer-reviewed, so the dates are recorded as a grower's figure. The sources reviewed give no storage method or shelf life, and none is recorded here.
The catalogue records its use as a pungent seasoning, a role that fits its strong aroma. The sources reviewed do not describe the dishes it is used in, so no dish is given here.
The catalogue notes that the bianchetto is distinct from the costly Tuber magnatum, and that distinction matters for the species named on a label. This page does not describe how to find or identify wild truffles.
The sources reviewed do not give a regional food tradition for the wild bianchetto, a measured aroma profile or a safety assessment. Those are the next questions for a fuller account.
Cultivation and field trials are recorded in Italy; the country entry does not establish a historical food tradition.
The sources record successful introduction of cultivation; no local food use is recorded.
Albatrellus confluens is a ground-growing polypore with fused buff-orange caps. Sources document Chinese market use and regional edibility, but others reject it as too bitter; taxonomy also varies between Albatrellus and Albatrellopsis.
Cicerbita alpina is an alpine perennial whose tender shoots and leaves have been eaten raw or cooked. Sámi milk preparations and modern Carnian dishes are distinct uses, with serious identification and preservation limits.
Anchovies are small schooling sea fish of the family Engraulidae, eaten fresh or dried and above all salted: as fillets in oil, whole salted fish or fish sauce.
Blue fenugreek (Trigonella caerulea) is an aromatic annual used as an herb in Alpine cheese and bread and as a seed spice in Georgian cooking; its identity differs from common fenugreek.
Caesar’s mushroom, Amanita caesarea, is a prized wild, tree-associated fungus of Mediterranean Europe, gathered seasonally for regional dishes. Its celebrated name and food traditions sit beside serious identification risks.
Calabrian pepper flakes are dried red Capsicum annuum from Calabria, crushed into coarse pieces; Peperoncino di Calabria is a protected geographical indication.
Chanterelles are wild, tree-associated edible mushrooms, particularly the European golden chanterelle Cantharellus cibarius, prized for their firm flesh, fruity aroma and use fresh, frozen, dried or pickled.
Chickpea flour is milled Cicer arietinum, used as besan in many Indian dishes and as the base of breads such as socca and farinata.
No community contributions have been published for this entry yet.
Sign in to contribute. Published comments and photos are free to read.
University of BolognaIdentity · Geography
Zambonelli et al. 2007 abstract (University of Bologna repository)Cultivation of T. borchii and the state of the Italian truffle cultivation research; the bianchetto is distinct from T. magnatum.
Cited in: Overview; Cultivation in Italy; Use and identification
Italian Journal of MycologyCultivation · Geography
Current status of truffle cultivation: recent results and future perspectivesGood cultivation results for T. melanosporum, T. aestivum and T. borchii; T. magnatum not yet cultivated; introduction to New Zealand; Marina di Ravenna trial from 1994 with an average of 7 kg per hectare over four years; early fruiting at about four years in pines; wide host range.
Cited in: Overview; Cultivation in Italy; Open questions
University of L'AquilaCultivation
Iotti et al. field study (University of L'Aquila repository)Field study of T. borchii cultivation in Italy.
Cited in: Cultivation in Italy
MicoforaHarvest
Growing bianchetto white truffles: Tuber borchiiHarvest in Italy from January 15 to April 30; commercial grower source, not peer-reviewed.
Cited in: Harvest and season