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Cooking with truffles... ideas?

5K views 24 replies 11 participants last post by  french fries 
#1 ·
A friend of a friend gathered black truffles from the south of France and is now selling them, so I bought a few, at €400/kg I suppose that's a good deal considering the prices around here.

This will be my very first time cooking with truffles, so I'm not too sure what to experiment with. Off the top of my head I'm thinking pasta dishes, mushroom risotto, or truffle roasted chicken or guinea fowl. Any other ideas?
 
#4 ·
I don't really like truffle so don't use them. But I'll eat them if someone else cooks with truffle. My experience is same as already said - primarily an expensive aromatic garnish.

The most disgusting, to me, thing I ever saw was when dining at Daniel [Boulud], where truffle was offered as an approximately 100USD add-on. At another table I saw the Waiter shave so much truffle on top of the dish that nothing else could be seen. I suspect nothing else could be tasted either. The diner was delighted, albeit with a much lighter billfold, and so was Daniel...
 
#6 ·
I see (tv) it most with mushrooms and egg but have never had it. So I'd probably make a mushroom frittata and garnish with truffle.

After working in polenta again with the challenge recently, a mushroom polenta with some egg, thinking along the line of grits and eggs
 
#8 ·
Maybe you meant you were thinking of adding truffle to a bird already roasted. As I understand, aside from the gas they release when in contact with some heat, which gives that distinct flavor, truffles taste just like a mushroom. So far as I know they go on when you pull from the dish from the heat.

Anyway, I think truffle flavor goes with just about everything, steak, lobster, potatoes, rice and pasta probably being the more common I've heard of. Never had them fresh, have used both artificial and real truffle oil, didn't find a real big difference in the two, though I did prefer the real. Never had the urge to put it on fowl, but everything else I mentioned.
 
#10 ·
Maybe you meant you were thinking of adding truffle to a bird already roasted.
No, I was thinking of inserting truffle slices between the flesh and the skin. That's a French classic. Like this:



As I understand, aside from the gas they release when in contact with some heat, which gives that distinct flavor, truffles taste just like a mushroom. So far as I know they go on when you pull from the dish from the heat.
No, truffles have a very distinct taste which is much stronger than your regular mushroom, even when raw. For example in Italy, it's pretty common to shave raw truffle on top of a pasta dish.
 
#9 ·
They go very well with eggs, and you can really taste them that way. Thinly shaved on a bitter greens salad with excellent olive oil and very little vinegar or garlic. Another idea is an excellent pâté or terrine, sliced on crusty bread, with shaved truffle and something like Maldon salt.

The big trick, I think, is that they have a very strong taste that is quickly overpowered, paradoxical though that sounds.
 
#12 ·
For me, I bought them in a can from Sysco. After opening, I placed the truffles in a glass container that I filled with Armagnac. I used them in Pate, on scrambled eggs, in mousseline, Souffle', as well as duck, goose breast, partridge, and even shaved it over a freshly grilled rib-eye.

rick allan....there is no such thing as real or artificial truffle oil. It is all olive oil that been flavored with chemicals.
 
#14 ·
I trimmed the exterior "skin" and used that to flavor oil, because I didn't want to risk even a speck of dirt get served... Add trim to warm, not hot, oil of choice, steep for several days, remove trim. The trim ended up in a stock.

I used the softer interior for a layered potato and truffle dish and the remaining shavings were put in a Armagnac/Champagne mix, to cover, ice cube tray and frozen for later use. When thawed, reduce storage liquid and add to dish.

Truffles always go well with other mushrooms.

Good luck!
 
#18 ·
By "synthetic" TF I did mean oil that has the gas bubbled through it that is the major pungency factor in truffles. It gets released from truffles by heat, it does get easily absorbed and retained by oils and salt. I've heard there is a trick for infusing oil with truffle essence, that hearsay is the extent of my knowledge there. Little I know, I would guess you can't squeeze oil from truffles as you'd experience with oil-olives, my sources never hinted at that anyway, and the website [of the Oregon based truffle company] has since disappeared, apparently the hobby of a retired Oregon botanist.
 
#21 ·
All I can add is that I envy you. I absolutely adore them. Yes they go beautifully with eggs ...and chicken. You can infuse an egg with truffle scent by placing it (in shell) in the same container as the truffle.

I've only ever used as a garnish - they will lose flavour if cooked a lot, I think
 
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