There are many types of truffles around the world: growing anywhere from 3cm to 5 cm in diameter and ranging from brown to black, grey to white, or even reddish in color, but they all share a similarity.

Truffles grow underground, making them hard to find and generally grow near the base of a hardwood tree such as oak and pine trees, if the right tree is not present, then the truffle will not be either.  Finding truffles is also a labor intensive task and usually require a trained animal to sniff out, making truffles the most expensive food for the quantity you get.

Among truffles, the most well known are White Truffles and Black Truffles (also known as the “White Diamond” and “Black Diamond” respectively in their locality), each coming in a winter or summer variant, with the winter varieties being more sought after.

Winter and summer white truffles are of the same variety of truffles, just harvested in different seasons.  Black truffles, however, are a different species in the winter and summer.  White truffles generally are known for a garlic like odor and also emit an earthy or musky aroma.  They are better left raw in dishes to utilize its aroma because it tends to fade rather quickly.  Black truffles have a more subtle aroma, but it lasts much longer and because of that, are better cooked to bring out the earthy, chocolate-like flavor it is said to have.

This post via the: How To Grow Mushrooms blog where you can learn how to grow mushrooms at home, indoors or outdoors