ITRM20080585A1 - PROCEDURE FOR THE PREPARATION OF A SEASON BASED ON OIL AND TRUFFLE AND A PRODUCT SO OBTAINED. - Google Patents

Description

"PROCEDURE FOR THE PREPARATION OF AN OIL AND TRUFFLE BASED SEASONING AND PRODUCT OBTAINED THUS"

The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of a new oil and truffle-based condiment and the product thus obtained, intended to be used to flavor a dish or a sauce with the typical and characteristic taste and aroma of truffles.

Truffles are quite rare, and being edible and particularly appreciated in gastronomy, they come to cost very high figures. In the Italian territory it is possible to collect all the truffle species used in gastronomy.

The truffle, as a precious niche product, is sold whole and fresh at retail, apart from the high-level catering channel.

A very small amount of truffle is enough to flavor a dish or a sauce.

Therefore, jars with whole small truffles, truffle carpaccio (or very thin slices), ready-made sauces based on truffles and generally comprising a mushroom base are usually prepared at an artisanal and industrial level, which lend themselves to use on croutons and bruschetta, durum wheat pasta and fresh pasta with the taste and aroma of truffles, etc. Other common preparations are grappa and truffle amaro.

Olive oils, or in any case vegetable oils, flavored with truffles are in great demand, but due to difficulties inherent in the production process, they are prepared only with aromas and essences of chemical origin: they are therefore less natural products than for example to sauces prepared with truffle pulp.

The difficulties presented by the preparation of truffle flavored oils are mainly due to the problem of the easy and rapid perishable nature of the truffle and the loss of its essential organoleptic characteristics during the various treatments it undergoes. Oils have been placed on the market in which a small truffle or one or more dried slices are placed in the container, mainly for aesthetic purposes, since the oil is always flavored with chemicals. In such conditions, in fact, the truffle does not transfer the taste and aroma to the oil with sufficient intensity and persistence and these characteristics decline in a short time after the first use. Furthermore, there is currently no vegetable oil-based dressing, preferably extra virgin olive oil, capable of being added to foods or sauces together with the truffle itself, for an added aroma and taste, as well as natural, certainly more intense. is full.

In this context, the main technical task of the present invention is to propose a process for the preparation of a condiment based on oil and truffles and the product thus obtained which overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art mentioned above.

In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a process capable of allowing an edible vegetable oil to be aromatized in an absolutely natural way with a truffle aroma of sufficient intensity and persistence.

A further purpose of the present invention is to propose a condiment based on oil and natural truffle in which, in addition to dishes, foods or sauces, both the flavored oil and the truffle itself can be distributed on them with an evident increase of the natural taste assigned to the food. The specified technical task and the specified purposes are substantially achieved by a process for the preparation of a condiment based on oil and truffles and the product thus obtained, comprising the technical characteristics set out in one or more of the appended claims.

Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become clearer from the indicative, and therefore non-limiting, description that follows of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of the process and of the relative product according to the invention.

To the genus Tuber belong several species of underground fungi, commonly called truffles, belonging to the Tuberaceae family, class of the Ascomycetes.

There are many species of truffles whose collection is allowed in Italy:

White truffle, Tuber magnatum Pico;

Black truffle, Tuber melanosporum Vittad .;

Muscat truffle, Tuber brumale var. moschatum De Ferry;

Black truffle or "summer scorzone", Tuber aestivum Vittad .;

Black truffle or "winter scorzone", Tuber uncinatum Chatin;

Black winter truffle, Tuber brumale Vittad .;

Bianchetto or Marzolino truffle, Tuber borchii Vittad. = Tuber albidum Pico;

Smooth black truffle, Tuber macrosporum Vittad .;

Ordinary black truffle or Bagnoli truffle, Tuber mesentericum Vittad., Of little economic value, considered by some to be a homonym of Tuber aestivum.

Tuber excavatum Vittad .;

Tuber puberulum Berk. &Broome;

Tuber oligospermum Vitt .;

Lipstick truffle, Tuber rufum Pico;

Among all these species in the continuation of the description we will refer only to:

black truffle or "summer scorzone" {tuber aestivum vittad.);

black truffle {tuber melanosporum vittad.); black truffle or "winter scorzone" (tuber uncinatum chatin);

bianchetto truffle {tuber albidum pico);

white truffle (tuber magnatum pico);

which are the most common and commercial species and to which, due to their chemical-physical characteristics, for the purposes of the process object of the present invention, all the other species can be traced.

Furthermore, in the following description, the term "tuber (s)" refers to any kind of truffle.

The process for the preparation of a condiment based on oil and truffles, according to the invention, uses truffles of the type in which the collected tubers have been subjected to common washing operations, to eliminate the coarse residues of earth and other substances. unwanted, brushing, performed by hand with special brushes to complete the cleaning of the tuber and then drying. When fresh truffles are not available, frozen preserved truffles are used, i.e. truffles that have undergone, after the aforementioned operations, a rapid freezing, with lowering of the temperature to -20 / -40 ° C, to then be stored frozen at ordinary temperatures of -18 / -20 ° C.

The truffles preserved in this way are then destined for distribution in the catering channels and in the industry for their transformation into the various products indicated above.

The process according to the invention includes the following further processing steps:

o immersion of fresh or frozen tubers in cold water brought to the boil and maintaining the boiling temperature for a given time between 1 and 15 minutes;

this phase allows the reduction of the bacterial load, but must be carried out with a slow and gradual heating of the tuber in order not to modify its structure and internal tissue and for the minimum boiling times necessary in order not to deprive the tuber of its organoleptic characteristics which, otherwise they would be transferred to the boiling water making the tuber practically devoid of taste and perfume. In the preparation of other products the above conditions are not respected since boiling water is also used for their preparation.

A phase follows:

o first drying of the tubers at room temperature for a set time between 10 and 60 minutes;

this phase requires suitable times, as well as for the external drying, for the reduction of internal humidity to make the tuber suitable for subsequent processing. The drying must also be gentle and gradual, in fact a forced drying in the oven would lead to the drying of the product with the almost total loss of its characteristics. The operation is carried out at room temperature, ie at an average standard temperature of 25 ° C and the said times have been calculated at this temperature and experimentally proved to be valid for temperatures between 20 and 30 ° C.

This is followed by the phase of:

o crushing the tubers into pieces or flakes with a length between 2 and 5 millimeters; this phase is carried out with suitable common means (cutters) which must however allow the tuber to be cut into flakes or pieces of only the predetermined size, avoiding to obtain particles or dust or larger flakes that would be unsuitable for the desired product. In particular, a fine mincing of the truffle, added to the oil, would quickly form a muddy mass on the bottom of the container, while larger pieces would make it difficult to dispense more pieces of truffle on the food.

This is followed by the phase of:

or second drying of said pieces or flakes of tubers at room temperature for a given time;

this second drying of the pieces or flakes of truffles, equally sweet and slow at standard room temperature (as defined above), is necessary to eliminate all residual humidity (without drying), restoring the truffle as much as possible to its original natural conditions.

Then follows the phase of:

or adding the said pieces or flakes of tubers to edible vegetable oil in a determined proportion and stirring the compound thus formed;

this operational phase allows to obtain the desired product in well-defined proportions of oil and truffle with said pieces or flakes of truffles in suspension which, in addition to transferring their own taste and aroma to the oil, can be poured and distributed on foods or sauces giving the user's palate also the direct taste of the chewable flakes truffle.

The above procedure allows to obtain a "natural" truffle flavored oil and to make a dressing complete with oil and truffle pieces, but, according to the intended use of the product, the required storage times and packaging methods , the process may also include the addition of preservative substances (eg sorbic acid) to said compound and possibly corrective flavorings.

Preferably, of course, extra virgin olive oil is used as edible vegetable oil.

In particular, advantageously, said boiling time is variable with the size and type of the tuber, in relation to the hardness of the rind and the compactness or porosity of the internal fabric, its ability to retain humidity or not, etc. Experimentally it was therefore determined that, for the purposes indicated above, the boiling times can vary between:

3 and 5 minutes for tubers of 5-30 grams and between

5 and 15 minutes for tubers of 30-100 grams

for the black truffle or "summer scorzone" {tuber aestivum vittad.), for the precious black truffle (tuber melanosporum) and for the black truffle or "winter scorzone" (tuber uncinatum Chatin);

1 and 3 minutes for tubers of 5-30 grams and between

3 and 5 minutes for tubers of 30-100 grams

for the bianchetto truffle (tuber albidum pico) and the white truffle (tuber magnatum pico)

Also said first drying phase, according to the invention, lasts a variable time with the type of tuber, for the same reasons of constitution described above, for times between:

10 and 30 minutes for the black truffle or "summer scorzone" (tuber aestivum vittad.), For the prized black (tuber melanosporum) and for the black truffle or "winter scorzone" (tuber uncinatum Chatin, ·

30 and 60 minutes for the bianchetto truffle (tuber albidum Pico) and the white truffle (tuber magnatum pico).

On the contrary, according to 1 <1> invention, said phase of second drying of the pieces or flakes of truffles is less influenced by the type of tuber and can last up to 30 minutes, sufficient time for the complete dehumidification of the truffle. This operation is useful, as well as for the reasons already explained, also for the practical reason of preventing the pieces or flakes collected from adhering to each other or to the walls of the container in the phase of dosed addition to the oil, preventing their optimal dispersion in the same.

Finally, as said, according to the invention, the addition of the said pieces or flakes of tubers to edible vegetable oil, preferably extra virgin olive oil, is suitably dosed in order essentially to obtain a good balance of aroma and taste. and is preferably carried out with the following proportions:

5 and 10 grams per 100 milliliters of oil,

for the black truffle or "summer scorzone" (tuber aestivum vittad.), for the prized black (tuber melanosporum) and for the black truffle or "winter scorzone" (tuber uncinatum Chatin);

1 and 5 grams per 100 milliliters of oil

for the bianchetto truffle (tuber albidum pico) and the white truffle (tuber magnatum pico).

After this last phase, an opportune stirring of the product thus obtained allows a good and homogeneous dispersion of the pieces or flakes of truffles in the oil. The product obtained with the procedure described is therefore composed of edible vegetable oil, preferably extra virgin olive oil, and pieces or flakes of truffles with a length between 2 and 5 millimeters, suspended in said oil and, advantageously, in the following proportions: for the black truffle or "summer scorzone" (tuber aestivum vittad.), for the precious black (tuber melanosporum) and for the black truffle or "winter scorzone" (tuber uncina tura Chatin) between 5 and 10 grams per 100 milliliters of oil, for the bianchetto truffle {tuber albidum pico) and the white truffle (tuber magnatum pico) between 1 and 5 grams per 100 milliliters of oil. As mentioned, the product will also be able to include preservatives and aromas according to needs. Variations and modifications can be made to the above-described embodiments of the process and the related product obtained, without departing from the scope of the invention defined in the claims to the gate.

Claims (12)

CLAIMS 1. Process for the preparation of a condiment based on oil and truffles and product thus obtained, of the type in which the harvested tubers are subjected to washing, brushing, drying and possible freezing, characterized by the fact that it includes the phases of : o immersion of fresh or frozen tubers in cold water brought to the boil and maintaining the boiling temperature for a given time between 1 and 15 minutes; o first drying of the tubers at standard room temperature for a set time between 10 and 60 minutes; o crushing the tubers into pieces or flakes with a length between 2 and 5 millimeters; or second drying of said pieces or flakes of tubers at standard room temperature for a given time; or adding the said pieces or flakes of tubers to edible vegetable oil in a given proportion and stirring the compound thus formed. 2. Process according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises the addition of preservative substances and aromas to said compound. 3. Process according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that said boiling time is variable with the size and type of the tuber for times included, for the black truffle or "summer scorzone" (tuber aestivum vittad.), For the precious black (tuber melanosporum) and for the black truffle or "winter scorzone" (tuber uncinatum Chatin) between 3 and 5 minutes for tubers of 5-30 grams and between 5 and 15 minutes for tubers of 30-100 grams and for the bianchetto truffle (tuber albidum pico) and the white truffle (tuber magnatum pico) between 1 and 3 minutes for tubers of 5-30 grams and between 3 and 5 minutes for tubers of 30-100 grams. 4. Process according to claim 1, characterized in that said standard ambient temperature is comprised between 20 and 30 ° C. 5. Process according to claim 1, characterized in that said first drying phase lasts a variable time with the type of tuber for times included, for black truffle or "summer scorzone" (tuber aestivum vittad.), For black valuable (tuber melanosporum) and for the black truffle or "winter scorzone" (tuber uncinatum Chatin) between 10 and 30 minutes and for the bianchetto truffle (tuber albidum pico) and the white truffle (tuber magnatum pico) between 30 and 60 minutes. 6. Process according to claim 1, characterized in that said second drying phase lasts up to 30 minutes. 7. Process according to claim 1, characterized in that the addition of said pieces or flakes of tubers to edible vegetable oil is carried out with the following proportions: for black truffle or "" summer scorzone "(tuber aestivum vittad. ), for the prized black {tuber melanosporum) and for the black truffle or "winter scorzone" (tuber uncinatum Chatin) between 5 and 10 grams per 100 milliliters of oil, for the bianchetto truffle (tuber albidum pico) and the white truffle ( tuber magnatum pico) between 1 and 5 grams per 100 milliliters of oil. 8. Process according to claim 1, characterized in that said edible vegetable oil consists of extra virgin olive oil. 9. Product obtained with the process referred to in one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises edible vegetable oil and pieces or flakes of truffles with a length of between 2 and 5 millimeters, suspended in said edible vegetable oil. 10. Product according to claim 9, characterized in that said pieces or flakes of truffles are present in the edible vegetable oil in the following proportions: for black truffle or "summer scorzone" (tuber aestivum vittad.), For black prized (tuber melanosporum) and for the black truffle or "winter scorzone" (tuber uncinatum Chatin) between 5 and 10 grams per 100 milliliters of oil, for the bianchetto truffle (tuber albidum pico) and the white truffle (tuber magnatum pico) between 1 and 5 grams per 100 milliliters of oil. 11. Product according to claim 9, characterized in that it further comprises preservative substances and flavorings. 12. Product according to claim 9, characterized in that said edible vegetable oil is constituted