It's the beginning of the tuber aestivum season, a famous summer truffle and Maison Henras has just shipped its first orders. A moment of immersion in the world of the summer truffle in an article that tells you about its journey before it ends up in your hands. Arrival, cleaning, selection, packaging, at Maison Henras, we don't hide anything from you!
THE ARRIVAL OF THE SUMMER TRUFFLE
This year, we received the summer truffle a little later than our colleagues, because we were expecting the best batches and a ripe truffle to offer to our customers.
The truffle came to us from our truffle growers in plots of land. We placed it in large bins in order to carry out a first visual check of the batches, which even if they are covered with earth, give a first glimpse of the overall quality of the supply .
At this time, it is the beginning of a period against the clock, in order to ship the freshest possible truffles , as quickly as possible.
CLEANING THE TUBER AESTIVUM
Our St Jean truffles (or summer truffles) are cleaned by hand under a jet of water, in order to preserve their integrity, it is this part of the work that is the longest and most laborious. Once cleaned, we generally lose 5% of the overall weight of the delivery evacuated in the form of mud while we are only at the beginning of a long series of stages.
SORTING
The truffles are then all spread out on our stainless steel tables, then examined and sorted one by one. This is where the knife step comes in, this means that the truffle is cut with a small penknife, to reveal its flesh and judge its maturity but also to check that it does not is not trustworthy.
Each of our truffles passes through the hands of one of our experts. It is at this stage that the experience acquired over many years comes into play: gauging the quality of a truffle , estimating its integrity by tactile measurement of its density requires many years of experience. This ancestral gesture cannot be automated.
Our truffles are then divided into two batches, those that we will offer for direct fresh sale to customers, then those of less quality intended for canned broken pieces for processors or manufacturers. Making preserves assures the consumer of having only the best truffles because this canning activity makes it possible to evacuate the less noble tubers .
THE SELECTION OF TRUFFLES
Over the season, the summer truffle evolves, its appearance and its taste change. At the beginning of the season, its gleba is very clear, almost white, and its taste light. The more the season progresses, the more it approaches a dark, beige, even almost brown flesh and a more pronounced taste. We are still waiting for the best time to start offering our fresh truffles . The maturity of the harvests changes, consumers can thus appreciate the delicate and light flavor of a truffle at the start of the season, but also the more buttery taste of a summer truffle in July! It's the magic of this tuber that adapts to the changing seasons...
PACKAGING
Our fresh summer truffles are then vacuum-packed and placed in the packages with a cooling block in order to maintain an optimal temperature during transport . Our orders are then delivered to our carriers before reaching your hands within 24 hours. A tracking number is sent to the customer to allow him to follow the progress of the delivery.
If by chance the package takes longer to arrive, the packaging process allows us to ensure the good conservation of the truffle .
