Pear
Pears are Pyrus fruits used fresh, pressed for perry, or crushed for fruit spirits; cultivar, species and ripening stage shape each preparation.
Mushrooms
Oregon brown truffle
Kalapuya brunnea, the Oregon brown truffle, is a native truffle of the Pacific Northwest that is shaved raw over warm food. Sources describe it as a gourmet edible, and its safe identification needs an expert.
Overview
Kalapuya brunnea, known as the Oregon brown truffle, is a truffle of lowland and foothill forests in western Oregon and northern California. It is one of four native Oregon truffles that extension sources treat as gourmet edibles. It grows underground and is found by its aroma and by the ground above it rather than by any visible fruit body.
Names and taxonomy
The accepted name in the extension summary is Kalapuya brunnea. Earlier work placed the species in the genus Leucangium under the name Leucangium brunneum. The catalogue entry gives the epithet with a single letter-change spelling, brunnea, and this page keeps the spelling of the accepted name.
Description
The outer skin is orange-brown and granular to warty. The flesh is firm and mostly white, with grey spore pockets that give a marbled look. The fruit body is larger than the white truffles and is found in a more limited range. It has a garlicky smell.
Habitat and season
The species grows in lowland and foothill forests, mainly west of the Cascade Range and in the Coast Range foothills above the Willamette Valley. The extension summary associates the gourmet specimens with Douglas-fir trees and notes that it often fruits in the same places and seasons as the Oregon black truffle. The season given is September through February.
Use
The truffle is not cooked. It is shaved thinly over warm, fatty foods such as eggs, meat, butter or cream sauce. A fat can take on its aroma if it is stored sealed with the truffle, without direct contact.
Storage
The summary advises an airtight container with more air space than truffles, lined with paper towels, kept refrigerated and dry, with the truffles not touching each other. It stays usable for about a week, depending on the species.
Lookalikes and safety
Many truffle species are not gourmet edibles. The extension summary says spongy, squishy, hollow or powdery truffles are not edible, and that edible specimens are firm, close to a pencil eraser in texture, with a marbled or speckled interior. The summary states that none of Oregon's native truffle species is poisonous, and it also advises never to eat a wild truffle or mushroom unless it has been identified with absolute confidence. This page gives no identification verdict beyond that.
Places
Western Oregon
Documented use · Region evidenceLowland and foothill forests west of the Cascades and above the Willamette Valley; a collecting range, not a cultivated origin.
Northern California
Documented use · Region evidenceNamed in the same extension summary as part of the species' range.
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Sources
Oregon State University ExtensionIdentity · Ecology · Food use · Storage · Safety
Oregon Native Edible Truffles (EM 9369)Accepted name Kalapuya brunnea, formerly Leucangium brunneum; description; Douglas-fir association; range; September to February season; shaved over warm fatty foods; storage; lookalike cues; statement that none of the native Oregon truffles is poisonous with a never-eat-unidentified advice.