Some friends gave us a couple of bottles of minced and shaved black truffles in olive oil. They were allowed to go beyond their “best by” date, so we needed to put them to quick use, and hope that a slightly diminished aroma and flavor wouldn’t be terribly noticed. Not to worry, the truffles were as pungent as ever and worked really well in this quick pasta sauce that we threw together in just minutes. To make, we got the pasta water on high heat and salted it generously when it came to a boil. We didn’t have any spaghetti, so we cooked some linquine instead. For the sauce, mince some onions and let them saute in some olive oil and butter. Once soft and translucent, add in chopped fresh mushrooms (we had button mushrooms and some shiitakes in the fridge) and let this saute over medium high heat…
…add some heavy cream, a bit more butter and generous amounts of minced truffles, in this case, roughly 2 tablespoons worth for four large servings. Season with salt and pepper. Add the pasta and stir to combine well. Turn off heat and serve immediately with generous amounts of freshly grated parmiggiano reggiano on the side. So easy, so simple, and the results were better than most versions of this dish in restaurants that tend to use synthetic truffle oil because of the prohibitive cost of real truffles.
14 Responses
That looks sooooo good!
In time maybe I will acquire the taste but as for now the smell is too pungent for my nose…..yeah, I know I am missing something ;)
Defintely better than those sold in restaurants which only use truffle oil and costs an arm and a leg.
Just curious. How much is truffle oil here in Ph?
So timely! Some friends have just given me a small bottle of whole truffles. This article certainly inspires :-)
We once bought a half kilo of French summer truffles for around 15k. Had very little flavor so we shaved it on pasta and added some truffle oil to amp up the flavor. It did impress the hell out of our guests who thought the real deal tasted so good. Didn’t have the heart to tell them that the truffle flavor really came from the oil.
I talked to an Australian truffle farmer who said the summer truffles’ mild flavor easily dissipates unless eaten right away. Having been in restaurants that have truffle festivals around this time of the year, I can sadly say that that farmer knew what he was talking about. With winter truffles costing 200k to 300k per kg, most of us would rather reach for that bottle of truffle oil for that earthy flavor fix.
I once saw a feature on Chinese truffles and how it is marketed as the French or Italian truffles or mixed in and sold at extremely low price! Of course the flavor is non comparable to the authentic. Now I wonder, if almost all dish spiked with truffles that is served in the metro, and priced low, that couldve been from China and not the real deal!
Here’s the link: https://youtu.be/6NDVh_hNEE0
Sgboy, more likely, the dishes served in Manila are MOSTLY made with bottled truffle oil, which unless incredibly pricey and from a good source, is very likely made with synthetic or “faked out” truffle flavoring. Real truffles have an overwhelming, pungent, fragrant (for some, not all) aroma that is distinctive and almost unmistakably truffle… Having fresh white truffles shaved onto a bowl of hot pasta is one of the most amazing culinary pleasures in the probably “highly overpriced” realm. It’s on the same level for me as really good beluga caviar. Bottled versions are several notches down, and truffle oil, only when you don’t have access to the others and frankly, are in need of a fix… :) pixienixie, truffle oil in the Philippines can sometimes be found for say PHP800-1,000 for a medium-small bottle. Better versions can run up to PHP4,000 for a tiny bottle. The former is what is typically used in restaurant pasta dishes I gather.
have some truffles in olive oil at home and am gonna try this recipe this weekend. btw, i just noticed that when i click on the picture on the homepage, it directs me to the picture and not the article. not sure if that was the real purpose but it would better if it redirected me to the article page rather than the picture. clicking on the picture on the article page should direct me to the picture page (which is what is happening on this page).
I’ll agree with that overwhelming scent. there were these truffle honey that had savings of truffle that was just enough to fit a fingernail, and I can barely taste the honey already.
Sgboy, the Chinese truffles use to sell here for P6,000 per kg, compared to summer truffles at 30k and winter truffles at 200k. Even at “just” 6k per kg., shaving cardboard on pasta would probably be a tastier choice. I don’t know if they still sell the Chinese stuff here though since you can’t fool people with that junk forever.
I’ve always felt that truffles smelt “gassy” and I’m reminded of “gaseous” fruits, namely cempedak, kuini( mangifera odorata ) or bachang( mangifera foetida ). So, I’m thinking, what if one of these were packed with eggs, dried mushrooms, short grained rice or butter to have its smell absorbed? Would there be an approximation of truffles when these foods are cooked?
Where can I buy truffle oil here in the Metro?
Mojo, truffle oil from Santis delicatessens (all over Metro) or S&L Fine Foods on Yakal St.