Forest Kitchen

(Tuber aestivum)

Of the underground mushrooms that are valuable for gastronomy, the summer truffle is the most common in Hungary. The forest areas managed by NEFAG Zrt., especially the ones in Jászság, are the most famous summer truffle growing areas in the country. Despite their small size, the common oak stands found here provide a significant part of the country’s summer truffle production every year. It is estimated that these few thousand hectares produce more than half of the national harvest. In 2014, a national record of 1.28 kg was found in the small forest of Jászivány managed by NEFAG Zrt. As the name suggests, summer truffles are mostly picked in the summer, with fewer but better-quality mushrooms in the autumn. Its odour reminds many of boiled corn. It has a pleasant flavour, which is most noticeable in dishes with butter, cream or other mildly flavoured fats. From early June until Christmas, we offer freshly picked summer truffles to restaurants and private customers every week. The more fragrant autumn variety is known as burgundy truffle (Tuber uncinatum).

(Tuber magnatum)

The most popular truffle. Auctions of larger specimens are regularly featured in the news. Its strong and appealing odour is unparalleled, even among truffles. It is a Mediterranean species, reaching the northern limit of its distribution in Hungary. It is literally an underground mushroom, as it is not uncommon to look for it 20-40 cm deep in the ground. Its size and shape range on the widest scale, with quite small and huge fruiting bodies as well. It varies in shape: sometimes it is smooth and rounded, other times irregular, warty or even flat depending on the quality of the soil. The peridium is yellowish or sandy in colour, sometimes mottled with brown spots. Inside it is whitish, yellowish or hazel in colour, but reddish discolouration is not uncommon either. For this reason, it is also called red-flesh truffle. It has a very rich, complex flavour and is considered a curiosity by gourmets and chefs alike.