Black truffles (Italian, French, and Chinese) - They complement red meat, dark meat poultry, red wine, sauces, wild mushrooms, apples, and soups. You can peel and slice thinly a fresh truffle or simmer it slowly. 3. Italian white truffles - They are best paired with eggs, white meat, risotto, and pasta. If you can find something yellowish, beige, or reddish brown that resembles a potato, you might be just lucky because that s a truffle! For many centuries, dogs and pigs have been trained to hunt truffle mushrooms. Their distinct ability to sense the strong smell of these mushrooms makes these animals a perfect fit for the hunting job. Instead, you just add them after the main ingredients have been cooked. That way, you avoid ruining the truffles flavor. Enhance the flavor of your poultry meat by inserting thin slices of raw black truffles under the skin of uncooked chicken, duck, or turkey. Add truffles to sauces made with brandy or wine for a flavor boost. Proper care an maintenance would include maintaining a good irrigation system, keeping the trees with sufficient water. Weed control is also important. To control weed growth, you would need to cultivate, spray and even apply some mulch. Lime treatment, aeration and soil and promoting root growth of the host tree. What also makes truffle prices soar is the difficulty of finding and harvesting these mushrooms. Typically, truffles are hunted by dogs and pigs that are specially trained so that they can use their sharp sense of smell to find truffles and to dig them. It didn t help that in 2003, France suffered a heat wave, which took a toll on the living environment of truffles. It s because they are extremely difficult to find. Unlike typical mushrooms that grow on the bark or exposed roots of trees, truffle mushrooms grow underground. That means you can t see them easily unless you dig the forest grounds. Finding truffles involves a hike in the woods. Is this your first time to do so?