black truffle

noun

: any dark-colored truffle

especially : the dark, edible, subterranean fruiting body of an ascomycetous fungus (Tuber melanosporum) grown especially in France, Spain, and Italy

Cut black truffles, which cost $800 a pound this time of year, are sautéed separately with shallots, garlic and thyme.

—Jacob E. Osterhout, Daily News (New York), 27 Jan. 2013

In France alone, the annual black truffle harvest has fallen from about 1,000 tons in the 1930s to about 50 tons now.

—David Jolly, New York Times, 21 Dec. 2012

Word History

First Known Use

1702, in the meaning defined above

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