I'm a Truffle House whore

[Matthew Grant]

We bought 3 small white truffles at Borough on Saturday. It was an illicit thrill I can tell you. Booth's and the Italian stall only had small examples but the smell won us over, Booth's at £1900/kg and the Italian stall at £2000/kg. Approaching the Italian stall I could smell the truffle before I could see them and arriving at the stall found a dodgy looking gentlemen with several truffles under a glass dome. He lifted he glass dome and shoved it under my nose and then passed it to a girl alongside me looking at Salamis.

"How much?"

"2000"

"2000 what!?" said the girl (who obviously didn't have a clue what they were). She looked like she was going to pass out when told that it was £2000 pounds a kilo and quickly scurried off. I checked the weight of a couple of different truffles, the smell wafting around my head making my heart beat a little faster. The small scales measured to decimal points and the first one came in at a touch over 10 grams. "£20" he announced, I chose another, fearful that it wasn't big enough. This one was also £20. Hmmmm, couldn't really justify £40 so felt another couple, carefully looking at them for any damage. Just over 7 grams "£14", we ummed and ahhed looking for another around the same price, realising that we needed about £40 worth of truffles but only wanting to spend £30. This had a positive effect as I think he thought we were bartering. He threw two truffles on the scale that came to around 16 grams "£30!" we looked at each other for reassurance that we were both happy with the quality of them and our hesitation seemed to convince him to put another small truffle on the scale which tipped them up to 20 grams and he declared that we could have it for free. That sealed it and we handed over the £30 which he stuffed into his pocket and then set to work trying to sell us a large summer truffle that he said reminded him of chocolate and velvet when eaten. Maybe next time. It felt like we had just carried out an ilegal transaction on a street corner in a rough neighbourhood.

Truffles in tact we moved to Wyndham poultry and chose a Label Anglais chicken. Back to Northfield farm for a Rib of Dexter Steer that I was promised they would be selling today. None left! Ahhhhhhhhggggh, Rachel is going to have to give up netball if it means that the meat is going to sell out before we get there! Down to the Ginger pig for a Forerib of Longhorn that smelt fantastic and cost £22. The display at The Ginger Pig has gone downhill since the shop opened and this was the first time we had shopped here for a few months.

A quick coffee at Monmouth, a toasted cheese sandwich with Poilane and Montgomery cheddar from outside Neal's yard (£3 - the food bargain of the year?) and a Chocolate brownie from the French guys opposite the French cheese stall, walking back past the Italian stall we noticed that the illicit truffle dealer had disappeared. I couldn't help imagining that he had lookouts at either end of the passageway who whistled him a warning when the police were on there way. A heavenly way to spend a couple of hours or so on a Saturday afternoon although mornings are nicer with fewer crowds.

Back home I got some Risotto rice (carnaroli) and buried the truffles in it. The afternoon was spent lifting the lid on the bowl of uncooked rice and inhaling deeply, carefully inhaling every last molecule carrying the delicious smell. Rachel's eyes actually looked like they were about to pop out of her head and we both agreed that they definitely made the heart beat quicker and had a certain aphrodisiac quality to them !

Dinner was a basic risotto made with a light chicken stock and a little Parmesan, the rice already had a feint aroma of the truffles form covering the truffles during the day but the crowning glory was shaving one of the truffles over the top of the two bowls – heaven. Main course was no more complicated. A roasted Label Anglais Chicken, some tagliatelle with a cream sauce covered in slices of the rest of the truffles. What a smell! We ate hunched over our plates making sure we didn't waste a single bit of that all too brief moment. Everything about this dish was perfect. It made me think that it should be eaten like an Ortolan, your head covered to ensure maximum aroma consumption. This was the ultimate in comfort food, a heart pounding drug like high.

As for its aphrodisiac qualities, well we never did discover, 3 bottles of wine and 6 beers later, we were only fit for sleeping!

The come down the next day was dreadful, we could never get the thought of that dish out of our head, tugging at our insides, an occasional fake waft of truffle flavour in my nostrils. I felt awful and the only way to get over this hangover was the foodie equivalent of methadone. A roast dinner. The aforementioned Rib of Longhorn, hung for 6 weeks, potatoes roasted in beef dripping, Yorkshire puddings cooked in beef dripping, gravy made from the meat juices, Green beans, Broccoli a bottle of Marques de Caceres Gran Reserva 1994 bought on our recent trip to Andalucia. What meat, I forgive the Ginger Pig its crappy display! Started in a very hot pan to get that perfect dark crust and the finished in the oven to 50 degrees. This was just how I like my meat, suitably gamey with melting fat. Well it wasn't quite the fix we had the night before but it was enough to get us through the day. Rehab surely awaits.

Edited November 8, 2004 by Matthew Grant (log)

[MobyP]

Mathhew - brilliant. I had jet lag this weekend, and slept right through Borough Market (awoke extremely pissed off).

Where else in London are white truffles to be found? And are the borough truffle places open on Thursday or Friday?

[Matthew Grant]

They're also available at Princesse d'Isenbourg based in Holland Park. They were £2500/kg , not sure what sort of size they were. The borough ones were Walnut sized at best.

Booths is definitely open Fridays, worth ringing before hand to check that they are going to have truffles though. If they are not of a good enough quality or too expensive they tend not to sell them.

Edited November 8, 2004 by Matthew Grant (log)

[Boris_A]

The come down the next day was dreadful, we could never get the thought of that dish out of our head, tugging at our insides, an occasional fake waft of truffle flavour in my nostrils.

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Great report!

The flashbacks after eating fresh truffle can be incredible. Occasionally, I had them for a week or even longer. I really wonder what's happening between the nostrils, the synapses and the memory.

[MobyP]

As I've only been there 50 or 60 times - which one is Booths?

[Matthew Grant]

The place with the mushrooms, opposite Wyndham Poultry tel:020 7378 8666

[MobyP]

Taverymuch. ('Ere, I bet you knew that number by heart - c'mon, fess up)

[PoppySeedBagel]

I've seen truffles at Carluccios in the past too - and Harvey Nichols's food hall

[balex]

And Harrods. I actually saw some young Italian guy turn up with a tupperware container full of them, and start trying to flog them to the person behind the counter.

2K/ kilo is a good price too.

[OnlyTheBest]

Very sexy Matthew !!! GREAT food porn read...doesnt get any better than that !!

Now i'm drooling. Mmmmmmmm.

[Andy Lynes]

Matthew - sounds like you got something of a bargin. Rowley Leigh, writing in the FT last weekend, said that he paid 2,300 per kilo and was warned that "prices were about to rise."

[Matthew Grant]

I think they are a little cheaper because they are small examples - they wouldn't much good for slciing at the table in a restaurant although the smell was equally as good. I also read that prices are about to rise, good quality but limited supply apparently I have my doubts. Apparently the weather has been good for truffles, so why the relative low quantity? I can't help wondering whether the prices are kept artificially high by the dealers.

[Niall]

We were down at borough last weekend and managed to get a largish (28gm) white truffle from the Italian man for £60 - it was 2200 a kilo. We toyed with the idea of just getting a couple of the smaller ones but couldn't resist the smell of the bigger one.

The quality of it was excellent.. be careful at booths to make sure there isn't a load of dirt crusted on, but this one was generally very clean.

We stuck it into some rice with half a dozen eggs. We used it for three meals;

for the first we scrambled three eggs and had that on some bread from the Pont de la tour bakery. A great Sunday breakfast.

For our second meal we made some fresh egg pasta with one of the remaining eggs. We mixed it in a sauce of white wine, oil and chives. We fried the remaining two eggs and shaved 60% of the truffle and some parmesan over the top.

For the third meal my other half decided to do a recipe from elizabeth david involving veal escalopes; she made a sandwich between the escalopes with parmesan, tuscan prosciutto and the remaining truffle. This was fried in some oil with some port and white wine added to make a sauce. This was served with some fennel and cauliflower that had been roasted in truffle oil.

All up it was delicious; although more truffle would always be good.

[MobyP]

Went to Harvey Nick's (saw Patsy - Joanna Lumley outside!) - and they had a few mangy specimens at 4200 a kilo. Harrods had some beauts at 4000 a kilo - still to rich for my blood. Finger's crossed for Borough tomorrow. I hope the price is lower.

[OnlyTheBest]

Went to Harvey Nick's (saw Patsy - Joanna Lumley outside!) - and they had a few mangy specimens at 4200 a kilo. Harrods had some beauts at 4000 a kilo - still to rich for my blood. Finger's crossed for Borough tomorrow. I hope the price is lower.

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Moby...how does ole Patsy loook these days?

I absolutely adore her....and of course... thats where you WOULD see Patsy...outside Harvey Nick's !!

[Matthew Grant]

Last night I had a quick sniff of the risotto rice that I didn't cook on Saturday. It has taken on the Truffle very well. It will make a very nice lunch on Sunday

[MobyP]

Went to Harvey Nick's (saw Patsy - Joanna Lumley outside!) - and they had a few mangy specimens at 4200 a kilo. Harrods had some beauts at 4000 a kilo - still to rich for my blood. Finger's crossed for Borough tomorrow. I hope the price is lower.

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Moby...how does ole Patsy loook these days?

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She looked bloomin' marvellous.

Far better than the truffles, that's for sure.

[Andy Lynes]

Went to Harvey Nick's (saw Patsy - Joanna Lumley outside!)

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I once stood behind Felicity Kendal on an in Harvey Nichols. I had always thought she was a real peach of a woman, and that just confirmed it for me (well, I had to get some food reference in their to remain on topic didn't I?)

[Tom Sulston]

Matthew - sounds like you got something of a bargin. Rowley Leigh, writing in the FT last weekend, said that he paid 2,300 per kilo and was warned that "prices were about to rise."

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Yes. I was in Fortnum and Mason yesterday. (They stock kilo bars of Valrhona, which is what I was after), and noticed that they were flogging white truffles at: £5700/kg. Blimey!

[Andy Lynes]

Yes. I was in Fortnum and Mason yesterday. (They stock kilo bars of Valrhona, which is what I was after), and noticed that they were flogging white truffles at: £5700/kg. Blimey!

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I suppose you could argue that its no worse than the average mark up of wine in a restaurant, or that the sort of people willing to pay that price have more money than brains. On the other hand you could argue that its profiteering and utterly reprehensible.

[MobyP]

The scam is the that Booths are selling walnut-sized ones - of medium quality - for 1900 a kilo, and the Italian guy has much more powerful ones (firm, solid, very pungent) of the same size for 21 or 2,200, golf ball-sized ones for 2,400, and even larger ones for 2,700 per kilo. He (obviously) adjusts the price to the size. But the quality far outstretched HN's and Booths, and seemed on par (but for half the price) of Harrods.

[balex]

IS the size-related difference in price just because there is less wastage (i.e. the ratio of inside to surafce is better) or do people think the flavour of the bigger ones is better?

[Marco_Polo]

IS the size-related difference in price just because there is less wastage (i.e. the ratio of inside to surafce is better) or do people think the flavour of the bigger ones is better?

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It's not just weight that determines price but eveness of shape as truffles that are too knobbly may be difficult to clean and just aren't as attractive for shaving at the table. And while I'm not sure anyone says larger tartufi necessarily have better or more intense flavour, as in all things, SIZE MATTERS.

Me, I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival tomorrow of my friend Mario from Barolo, who is bringing out not just his wonderful Cascina Fontana wines but also 160-180g of tartufo di Alba (depending on price) for a special meal I've organised on Monday. He'll be bringing the tartufi in his carry-on luggage - gawd, I hope he makes it through customs. The sniffer dogs will have a field day and might well go ape-shit berserk if they get a whiff...

MP

[Adam Balic]

We bought 3 small white truffles at Borough on Saturday. It was an illicit thrill I can tell you. Booth's and the Italian stall only had small examples but the smell won us over, Booth's at £1900/kg and the Italian stall at £2000/kg. Approaching the Italian stall I could smell the truffle before I could see them and arriving at the stall found a dodgy looking gentlemen with several truffles under a glass dome. He lifted he glass dome and shoved it under my nose and then passed it to a girl alongside me looking at Salamis.

V&C in Edinburgh is selling white truffles for £3500 a kg, so you got a bargin!

[Matthew Grant]

We bought 3 small white truffles at Borough on Saturday. It was an illicit thrill I can tell you. Booth's and the Italian stall only had small examples but the smell won us over, Booth's at £1900/kg and the Italian stall at £2000/kg. Approaching the Italian stall I could smell the truffle before I could see them and arriving at the stall found a dodgy looking gentlemen with several truffles under a glass dome. He lifted he glass dome and shoved it under my nose and then passed it to a girl alongside me looking at Salamis.

V&C in Edinburgh is selling white truffles for £3500 a kg, so you got a bargin!

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I'm not sure whether that is a bargain rather than other places selling them at exhorbitant prices I was talking with a chef on Saturday who thought they were too expensive at £2000/kg.