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Truffle Oil


jg488

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What's the difference between white truffle oil & black?

White Truffle Oil: Crisp with a nutty flavor, in extra virgin olive oil. For an ultimate truffle flavor, add to vegetables, pastas and salads.

Black Truffle Oil: The robust flavor of black truffle oil lasts longer than white truffle oil. This extra virgin olive oil is an excellent dressing and ideal on all dishes, enhancing their taste with it's distinctive flavor. It should be used raw as a dressing on your hot and cold dishes to avoid losing it's priceless aroma. No more than one teaspoon of this extremely tasty oil is needed.

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So now I have a question for other eGulleters:  What do you think of truffle pastes and/or powders?  I love the taste of truffles, but let's say I'm making risotto -- just sauteeing the flavor base and rice in truffle oil yields very little truffle flavor.  Would these pastes/powders yield a flavor similar to if I used fresh truffles?

I suspect that there was very little truffle flavor because the oil was subjected to cooking-level heat for an extended time. Truffle oil works best only as a finishing oil.

I'm afraid I have no experience with truffle paste or powder. I once got a jar of truffle cream as a present and used it once on pasta. I still prefer the oil.

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I agree with Alex re the heat issues. Any time a delicate, aromatic food is subjected to a lot of heat over a substantial length of time, the very same volatile chemicals that give it all its interest are driven off.

As for other truffle products, I have always felt that the best bang for the buck is "truffle carpaccio." This is a jar of the trimmings from black summer truffles in oil. It provides a nice truffle presence without breaking your pocketbook. If you want to make a risotto or potato puree with truffles, you could do much worse. I think it's better for these uses than truffle oil (which, AFAIK, are all artificially flavored). That said, truffle carpaccio (and black summer truffles overall) are no match for real black truffles or, better yet, white truffles.

--

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I've tried to use it several times and either can't taste it or it tastes awful!  It tastes terrible out of the bottle. 

If it tasted bad right out of the bottle, it has probably gone off. I had a bottle that went-- not only did it lack truffle flavor/aroma, it was downright yucky.

Oven- roasted new potatoes are nice when finished with (fresh) truffle oil and some cruncy sea salt.

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When making mushroom risotto, I learned to "finish" it with a little truffle oil poured on top. Very little. Then when you stir it into the risotto, it releases all sorts of fantastic aromas, and tastes so good. I use black truffle oil for this, however.

I love cold Dinty Moore beef stew. It is like dog food! And I am like a dog.

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Quality of truffle oils can vary. We once bought a (relatively) cheap bottle from Trader Joes and the stuff was pretty awful, now we stick to the $10 "arline bottle" sizes at Dean &DeLuca or Whole Foods.

Given the season, the thing you want most in the world to do with your truffle oil is haul over to the nearest farmer's market, buy a grocery bag full of exquisitely fresh English peas, and make the pea soup with truffle oil from the French Laundry Cookbook. Trust me on this.

My wife also like to put it on pizza.

I'm on the pavement

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  • 4 months later...

I just bought a bottle of white truffle oil, and while it wasn't terribly expensive I don't want to waste any of it.

Does it loose its potentcy over time? How long do I have to use it up?

Edited addition: I got this oil at Far West Fungi in the San Fran Ferry Plaza building. It tasted good so I bought it.

Hal

Edited by halland (log)
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For the most part "White truffle oil" is an artificial product sold to unsuspecting buyers. Its almost never used in real restaurant or Italian cooking. HOWEVER, actual olive oil infused with white or black truffles is a real product, and so is white truffle and black truffle paste. But those are also expensive.

EDIT: I've merged the topic as this question has come up before.

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The chef here uses truffle oil swirled on top of all kinds of creamy soups including muchroom, white bean, butternut squash, etc. It's very good that way.

Another restaurant where I used to work made a really delicious Potato and Fontina Pizza that had truffle oil drizzled on it at the last second. :wub:

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have discovered the ultimate white truffle "convenience" ingredient.

It's white truffle puree from Urbani.

Yeah, it's $38 for less than one ounce. But it comes in a convenient anchovy-paste style tube and the listed expiration date is in 2007.

I used some to make both truffle butter and some truffled mashed potatoes. Oh. My. God. This stuff blows truffle oil away. Admittedly, yes, truffle oil is much more convenient as a finish on soups and stuff, but if you want a genuine truffle flavor in your mac 'n' cheese, look no further than this stuff! I ordered three extra tubes just so I can be set for truffle urges for the next few years.

The ingredients, BTW, are white truffles, milk, and some sort of anti-oxidant (?).

Don Moore

Nashville, TN

Peace on Earth

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  • 1 year later...
Does anyone know what to look for when purchasing a good truffle oil? Any recommendations, varieties, brands, etc would be appreciated...

The only suggestion I can make is to avoid oils that list artificial flavors as an ingredient. This actually rules out a surprising number of them, unfortunately.

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Does anyone know what to look for when purchasing a good truffle oil? Any recommendations, varieties, brands, etc would be appreciated...

I agree with Nishla. No ingrients other than olive oil & truffles.

The oil should be really good virgin oil from France or Italy. Black truffles I think are better for this than white so most likely they're going to be from France.

Hope this helps.

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  • 1 month later...
Does anyone know what to look for when purchasing a good truffle oil? Any recommendations, varieties, brands, etc would be appreciated...

The oil should be really good virgin oil from France or Italy. Black truffles I think are better for this than white so most likely they're going to be from France.

Hope this helps.

All commercial truffle oils are entirely artificial. It is possible to find artisanal truffle oils in France that are prepared with real truffle, but these are invariably less "impressive" than the artificial ones.

It's economics. Why would you use a lot of expensive truffle to make oil, when a few drops of a chemical soup will give you a facsimile of the real thing? Formulations exist for both black and white truffle, and they are widely used. Almost all truffle-flavoured products will be based on these chemical formulations.

The artificial aromas are like a cartoon version of the real thing: they use a few of the most important smell components, but exclude many others. A black truffle can have as many as fifty different aroma components - the truffle "aromas" may have five or six.

I use them to train my dog. The only acceptable use I have discovered is to lightly dress good french fries - ie where finesse doesn't matter.

Truffle butters are a much better way of preserving and presenting the real truffle experience, especially if you can find one that's been made without the assistance of chemicals...

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An oil importer told me that it's not possible to make a genuine truffle oil that lasts for more than a day or two. Certainly I've never found a genuine one. The trouble with it is that it mimics some of the qualities of the real thing so well that the real thing is slightly devalued-like frozen peas.

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An oil importer told me that it's not possible to make a genuine truffle oil that lasts for more than a day or two. Certainly I've never found a genuine one. The trouble with it is that it mimics some of the qualities of the real thing so well that the real thing is slightly devalued-like frozen peas.

No truffle oils keep well. Keeping them cool (in the fridge) helps.

I can't agree that the real thing is somehow devalued by the existence of the oils and other truffle-flavoured products ("truffled" "balsamic" vinegars are something I've seen recently!) - you only have to try a comparison to realise that dishes that use oil for their truffle flavouring are much less satisfying than the real thing - no complexity, often "chemical" in their directness. There is however a real danger that chefs who use the stuff will devalue truffles for their customers. "Truffle" becomes just another flavouring to be used, instead of something special and seasonal to be celebrated.

Pip pip!

I don't know what I want, but I want it now.

On The Farm

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I can't get truffle butter out here where I live, so I buy truffle oil instead, even though I think it tastes kind of like turpentine.  :unsure:

With any luck someone more helpful than myself will chime in soon.

Oh man! Thank heaven I am not alone! I received a gift of truffle oil and I gather it's a good one - nothing but olive oil and truffle flavour but I can't get past the smell! So it sits in my 'fridge and on my conscience like a mighty large fungus that keeps festering and festering!

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  • 6 months later...

I just grabbed a bottle of Da Rosario black truffle oil just to see what's what. "Black Perigord Truffle Flavoring" is listed as the only ingredient with olive oil. Am I correct in assuming that this ingredient did not come from truffles? It isn't listed as an artificial flavoring -- though I'm certainly likely to be naive about what food labels can get away with these days.

BTW, it does have a medicinal smell atop the truffle odor, but not anything as strong as turpentine. Results in mashed potatoes later this week, I think.

Chris Amirault

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"Black Perigord Truffle Flavoring" is listed as the only ingredient with olive oil. Am I correct in assuming that this ingredient did not come from truffles? It isn't listed as an artificial flavoring -- though I'm certainly likely to be naive about what food labels can get away with these days.

I doubt your naivete, Chris :wink:

Your remark did prompt me to go and do a bit of reading in the Code of Federal Regulations

"Natural flavour" has been bastardised by industrial food; the term is essentially worthless. Fruit flavour manufactured from fish-heads by industrial chemistry is 'natural'.

That said, my reading of the following extracts suggests that what you have should be flavored with some sort of truffle extract. As an aside, Lamadia White truffle oil is labelled with words like "Olive oil infused with Tuber Magnatum Pico", which sounds promising. I seem to recall there being some additional weasel wording on included though, and don't have the label in front of me.

Officialese follows:

Section 101.22 Foods; labeling of spices, flavorings, colorings and chemical preservatives.

(i)(1) If the food contains no artificial flavor which simulates, resembles or reinforces the characterizing flavor, the name of the food on the principal display panel or panels of the label shall be accompanied by the common or usual name of the characterizing flavor...

(i)(1)(iii)

(iii) If the food contains both a characterizing flavor from the product whose flavor is simulated and other natural flavor which simulates, resembles or reinforces the characterizing flavor, the food shall be labeled in accordance with the introductory text and paragraph (i)(1)(i) of this section and the name of the food shall be immediately followed by the words "with other natural flavor'' in letters not less than one-half the height of the letters used in the name of the characterizing flavor.

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Truffle butters are a much better way of preserving and presenting the real truffle experience, especially if you can find one that's been made without the assistance of chemicals...

Can anyone recommed a good brand of truffle butter (please recommend the source as well)?

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A number of years ago there was a very good article in Vogue about truffle esters and the products made from it. I had always been highly suspicious of products like truffles oils, flours and whatever. The few dishes I had up until that time in restaurants that used the product never seemed quite right. Now the I only use fresh white or black but will sometimes used a jarred black truffle if the price is right but no more oils. If the restaurants lists truffle oil as an ingrediant, I ask then not to include it or I don't order the dish.-Dick

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  • 2 years later...

Awhile back I was taking a few culinary arts classes. One class I took was Italian Cuisine. The chef went on and on about the virtues of truffle oil. Being that we never actually used it in the class I wouldn't know good from bad, and considering he gave me a B-, AND my last name ends in a vowel, I don't know if I believe him or not. :raz: So, how do I know good from bad?

thanks.

Edited by sp1187 (log)

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