Truffles

“Go over there and find me a truffle”. A spring morning walk through the orchard with Paul Beckman and his dog reveals something new and unusual to Idaho agriculture. “She can smell those truffles just walking down the way.” Idaho native son Paul Beckman is the guru of the Idaho truffle industry. It all started with a comment from Oregon scientist and truffle expert Charles LeFevre. “Were actually looking to do a culinary resort and we had a bunch of vineyards, I was sitting and reading the capital press, and I said who is this Charles LeFevre, I grow truffles, that’s something that nobody does. So I called up Charles and said I want to grow truffles in Idaho. He says you can’t it is too cold. I said send me 200 trees and we will start experimenting.” Over 10 years later and beginning in 2012, growing in the ground under hazelnut and oak trees in the foothills of Eagle Idaho, the first other tuber of Idaho was discovered. “We have already found the bean kettle truffle which is the Italian spring truffle and we have found the paragon truffle this last January. The next group we want to find are the ones that we have planted on this part of the orchard which are called Tuberous Stephen and, depending on when it fruits, you call it a summer truffle or you call it a burgundy.