cookcabulary - food words starting with t

tagliatelle (tah-lyah-THE-leh) Long, thin, flat noodles typically about 14-inch wide.

Truffles (TRUF-uhls)
One of the world’s most prized and expensive foodstuffs, truffles are fungi that live underground. Ancients thought truffles were the product of lightning strikes, but in fact, their existence is due to the kind of miracle only botany can produce. The fungus enters into a mycorrhizal relationship with a tree, usually an oak. It’s a win-win situation: The truffle becomes an extension of the tree’s roots, helping to draw up minerals from the soil; the tree nourishes the truffle with the products of photosynthesis.

Since truffles fetch hundreds of dollars per pound, the hunt is extremely competitive. This quest for treasure is spearheaded by a pig. The truffle’s scent is similar to the sex pheromone of the male pig, which sows find irresistible. In recent years, dogs have been trained to do the sniffing because of the obvious hazards of wrangling food from the jowls of a hungry hog.

The most prized truffles are the black truffle of Périgord (in southwestern France) and the white truffle of Alba (in the northwestern Piedmont of Italy) In the early 1800s, the French learned to cultivate truffles by planting acorns from host trees, and inroads in trufficulture are being made here in the States. One of the largest truffles on record (4 pounds) was purchased in 1951 by a Roman to send to U.S. President Harry Truman. Sadly, it doesn’t appear in Truman’s records—given his salt-of-the-earth quotability and the truffle’s unusual appearance, it would be interesting to know what Truman had to say.

The home cook who wants a taste might consider truffle oil, which can be added to dishes ranging from sauces to scrambled eggs. The chocolate truffle is so named because the classic coating of cocoa is reminiscent of the dirt that clings to a freshly dug truffle.
- Jo Marshall

tsingtao (CHING-DOW) A bitter Chinese beer.

tzatziki (dzah-DZEE-kee) A Greek sauce made with plain yogurt, cucumber, garlic, olive oil, vinegar and fresh dill or mint, tzatziki is served as a dip, cracker spread or condiment for fried foods and gyro sandwiches.