Truffles

[Half Baked]

I've never had a truffle unless it was when I was young and I wasn't impressed with food, but I have the oil now.

I didn't have fois gras until I was in my late 20s.

 

[Hades]

I'm usually of the more adventurous type of eater but truffles in icecream?!
There's plenty of excellent "classical" dishes to use them in though. If you're using truffle oil, then dripping it over cooked pasta or ommelette is one of the better ways to enjoy it. Maybe half baked can correct me, but I've been told truffle oil doesn't keep it's taste and aroma very well when cooked.
Truffle juice is also something you can quite easily (and "cheaply") find canned. Truffle juice is also very good in an ommelette but you can use it in most recipe's too I guess.
Slivers of the actual mushroom go in all kinds of recipes. If you're new to them and/or don't plan on using it on a daily basis, then canned truffle in juice is a good alternative. I use the 12 gr (1/2 oz) cans that are fairly widely available here.
In the choice of recipe's I'd go for the fairly simple and neutral tasting dishes so the truffle is the star of the show. Pasta, eggs and poultry (eg. chicken mousse or chicken parfait) realy make your 20-30$ investment for a can of truffles worth while.
If you find out you like the truffles, I have a great recipe for truffle stuffed turkey fillet. A big hit on the christmas (or in the US probably also the Thanksgiving) dinner table.
The taste of truffle is difficult to describe to someone who never had them. Earthy and garlicy is a good start, but if you want to know, you realy should try them. Their taste and aroma is very complex and if you like them, extremely tasty.

 

[AllenOK]

When truffles are sold by weight, remember that the bigger truffles for more money per pound (Kg) than smaller truffles. Your best bet to buy real truffles is to get some small ones, as they are the cheapest. Of course, truffles don't travel very well, nor does the flavor last long, so you'd have to travel to Italy and/or France to get them at their peak.

 

[lulu]

I have to say, I cannot stand truffles!

I try and try, being a woman of expensive tastes usually, to like them, but even the smell of the kitchen if someone else has used truffle oil is enough to destroy my appetite.

I read an interesting thing that more women dislike truffles than men and it has something to do with hormones.....I can't remember now, but it was interesting, lol.

Um, as you ar looking for pasta solutions Gobo truffle oil might do it for you, or finely shave a bit of truffle on your pasta if you are prepared to spend a lot of money on it.

 

[Ishbel]

SNAP!
I remember trying to force myself to eat truffle shavings when I was younger.... the smell puts me off - and yet I LOVE most types of mushrooms, even the really weird ones! There are only a few things I won't eat, truffles being one of them!

I once went to a dinner party in London hosted by people I didn't know too well - there were 12 to dinner. The first course came up, and was crab based (I don't eat much shellfish at all!) and had truffles in it too... I spread the food about my plate and hoped that the hostess wouldn't notice that NONE had been eaten! Then the main course - a sort of Russian fish pie... koulbiac sort of dish. Pastry triangle with fish, lobster, rice and boiled eggs inside, flavoured with? Yes, you've guessed..... truffle shavings! When I cut into the pastry and smelt the contents I felt ILL! Then the pudding came: It was a truly awful version of burnt cream....

When we left, we scoured all of South Kensington looking for a fish and chip shop!

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I use truffle oil for many things as I love the flavor. It is definitely a mushroom flavor, but very strong, and a bit sharp, almost smokey. Also, it stays with you for a while after you eat it. I also have a jar of truffle paste (a tiny bit of truffle mixed with ground button mushrooms and olive oil). It, like the truffle oil, is a strong flavor. It goes well as an accent to pasta, beef, and several Bechemel based sauces.

Like our own native morrell mushroom, I feel the flavor is too strong to be eaten by itself, but rather is used to enhance and accent other foods.

I have yet to taste a mushroom that I don't like. I pick puff-balls, field mushrooms, and morrells. And I purchase a wide variety of mushrooms from the grocer, when they are available (which is rare).

The truffle has a unique flavor that is unlike the flavor of any other mushroom, but is unmistakably a mushroom flavor. All I can say is to purchace a bottle of truffle oil, and try it.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[Constance]

About the smell/fragrance...It is said that they used to use boy pigs to hunt them, because the truffle smells like the girl pig in heat. Maybe that's why more women dislike them than men?

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

About the smell/fragrance...It is said that they used to use boy pigs to hunt them, because the truffle smells like the girl pig in heat. Maybe that's why more women dislike them than men?

Now hold on there. Are you saying that we like the smell of girl pigs?
I know you weren't saying that!

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North (just stirring the pot a little )

 

[bullseye]

One of the most expensive, if not the most expensive, food items out there.

Perhaps saffron is a bit pricier?

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I'm thinking that edible gold and silver must be up there as well.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[jennyema]

The truffle has a unique flavor that is unlike the flavor of any other mushroom, but is unmistakably a mushroom flavor. All I can say is to purchace a bottle of truffle oil, and try it.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

I love truffles and agree that they have a very earthy unique flavor. But I think they don't taste anything like mushrooms.

Word to truffle oil as the best way to dip your oar into the world of truffles.

I love good caviar too!

 

[jennyema]

Perhaps saffron is a bit pricier?

I think you are right that saffron is the most expensive foodstuff by weight. But saffron is, IMO, much more accessible to the home cook than truffles or caviar or kobe beef, etc.

 

[ChefJune]

Best way to try truffles without breaking the bank is to buy a small bottle of truffle oil. Drizzle it on top of mac and cheese (homemade!) after it bakes. Drizzle it on polenta, pasta (not on red sauce).

If you like that you can find truffle butter at several sources on line. It's not cheap - but a tiny slice on a perfectly cooked steak, or melted on risotto or polenta with lots of parm is pure heaven. There is also truffle salt. I'm dying to add that to my spice rack.

The flavor is earthy, a bit garlicy, makes my eyes roll back in my head!

Sharon's given you some good suggestions for affordable ways to try out the flavor! Truffle Butter on mashed or baked potatoes is pretty wonderful, too..

I've been fortunate to have enjoyed both black and white truffles... I really love the black ones atop softly scrambled eggs. The flavor combo is fabulous. I think white truffles are at their best shaved over saffron risotto. I enjoyed them that way a couple of years ago when I attended a dinner where Chef Roberto Donna of Galileo in DC prepared the largest white truffle of that year for an all-truffle dinner here in New York.

I love to stuff slices of truffle under the skin of boneless chicken breasts and poach them in white wine/stock. That's a traditional Lyonnaise dish called "Chicken in Half-Mourning." -- (in French, "Demi-Deuil")

 

[RDG]

Oh, my God...truffles....Icoud kill, for them...On eggs, on meats,on some fishes, on vegetables....I'd eat them on everything....
Here, there are two essential types of Truffles: the white ones, in Alba (piemonte) zone, and the black ones in Norcia(Umbria) area. Prices...prices can change, because they depend by the season. Sometimes, here, they arrived till 3000-4000 €/kg for the big, white ones, and 20-30% less for the black ones. The little ones are really cheaper, much cheaper. Chips (splinters?) are....150...200/kg. Difficult to say.
Only a precisation: truffles icecreams are icecreams in which there is only the shape of truffle: a big ball dark brown (chocolate powder) with peanuts and white icecream inside. Nearly the same colours.... .
For lulu: my wife is the same than you: if I eat them, she open the windows, goes away, or send me out in the balcony . Particular smelling: or you love it, or you hate it.

 

[jennyema]

I love to stuff slices of truffle under the skin of boneless chicken breasts and poach them in white wine/stock. That's a traditional Lyonnaise dish called "Chicken in Half-Mourning." -- (in French, "Demi-Deuil")

Yum. Had it but never made it. It's delicious.

Balthazar's truffle salad dressing (for their excellent house salad) is a favorite of mine. That, I make at home.

 

[bullseye]

I think you are right that saffron is the most expensive foodstuff by weight. But saffron is, IMO, much more accessible to the home cook than truffles or caviar or kobe beef, etc.

Point taken, especially when you consider what a small quantity of saffron is used in a dish that feeds many.

 

[GB]

So how long before some money hungry entrepreneur decided to come up with the worlds most expensive dish, which combines truffles, saffron, caviar, etc.

 

[goboenomo]

They'll be some huge cooking contest to see what special person in the world gets to cook the meal
and then another contest to eat it. :P

 

[Andy M.]

I have that for breakfast three times a week on a gold leaf bagel.

 

[GB]

Andy I think DC DC made a mistake in your last few direct deposits.