The post Truffled Potatoes Boulangère appeared first on The Real Truffle Hunters Ltd .

The post The European Truffle Species – Video appeared first on The Real Truffle Hunters Ltd .

One of the many very strange things about truffles is what happens when you put them in your fridge. Their dominant smell will take over. Everything in there will become infused with truffle – your milk, your cheese, your cheesecake, even your eggs. Anything with a high fat content is particularly at risk of taking on a truffle flavour. This is because the volatile compounds that make up what we know as the truffle smell, bond with fat molecules.

From a cooking perspective, this is where things get exciting- we are going to use flip the problem of aroma contamination so that it works in our favour. This means that the process of cooking with truffles starts by storing truffles with the ingredients that they pair well with. This technique will give greater depth of truffle flavour to your dish as you are using pre-infused components. So in the box where I store truffles I will also keep eggs, cream, cheese, some oil – anything I am going to cook them with. The one thing to avoid is rice because this tends to dry the truffle out especially over a couple of days.

So that was our first principles of cooking with truffles. Infusion is your friend. Storing truffles with their fellow ingredients will stretch their flavour so you are getting better value. Don’t forget that truffles will keep for about week in the fridge at standard fridge temperatures, that is 3/4 C or 37/39 F. Don’t let them come into contact with ice and never freeze them. We keep them individually wrapped in paper. This helps extend their life as truffles give off moisture from the moment they are out of the ground. Wrapping them helps prevent them from drying out. Be careful though because you don’t want to expose truffles to excess moisture either and these papers will get damp. When they become too wet, you need to swap the papers out for fresh ones.

When you are ready to use them, soak your black truffles for 10 minutes and then scrub them- peeling is a sin. Wash white truffles under cold running water. Make sure you get earth out of all the crevices.

Cooking truffles.

Truffles should not be exposed to a lot of heat. This means that truffles are added at the end of the cooking process, let’s say you were making a soup or a sauce. Or else they are shaved over the top of the finished dish. The very expensive white winter truffles should not be cooked at all, whereas the black truffles and US truffles can handle gentle cooking. All the same, don’t overdo it . For example, I would cook black truffles in my omelette but sautéing them in butter like you would with mushrooms? That would be too much.

Probably my favourite way to us truffles is with good quality eggs. Truffles and eggs are the perfect match, omelettes, scrambled, on top of boiled, fried or poached eggs. If you would like to make a special breakfast, try this. Toast with homemade bread, spread the toast with truffle butter and top your scrambled eggs with plenty of shaved or finely grated truffle.

When made with white truffle this fabulous meal is called millionaire’s breakfast.

Truffles bond really well dairy, so cream and butter are great companions. Cheese can work well too but mild cheeses, avoid anything strong like gorgonzola. Truffles go really well in a cream sauce to serve with pasta or a cheese sauce for something like a cheese macaroni. Cream cheese with grated truffle could be the base of a decadent starter and enables a little truffle to go a long way. You can serve this truffle cream cheese with fresh baked bread or some little crackers or have it as a dip for bread sticks. You could finish off a meal with some good quality dairy ice cream drizzled with truffle honey! I know it sound sounds weird but try it before you knock it.

If you don’t want to use dairy products, then consider a combination of truffles and meat, particularly beef. I love to throw some truffle butter on a good quality steak and then shave more truffles on the top. Serve with garlic mushrooms and truffled potatoes and you can’t go wrong. I make a lot of truffles burgers too . Again you can add truffles to the burger patty mixture for extra depth of flavour. If you prefer poultry, truffles pair perfectly with chicken. Try putting truffles under the chicken skin as a fancy marinade and then truffles get shaved over the top, you could make a truffle gravy or cream sauce to go with your chicken if you want to take that to the next level.

Truffles and carbs go really well provided there is some fat in the dish too. So a great rice dish would be a risotto because you are adding parmesan and butter. I think they work well with baked or roast potatoes, truffle butter and fresh truffle grated over the top. Then of course pasta dishes, the rule here is not to get carried away with the sauce. Don’t start adding smoky bacon and whatever you are inspired by in your kitchen cabinet, this will lead to overpowering the truffle. And what about bread? Truffle butter on toast combines comfort and decadence. You can also put truffles on pizza, but they should be shaved on top after it has come out of the oven. It should also be a pizza without tomato sauce.

Truffles and vegetables and pulses. If it has an earthy flavour it usually pairs nicely with truffles. As well as the standard mushrooms, you can experiment with roasted root vegetables and cauliflower. I also serve them with artichokes and I think it is the perfect combination. As a vegan option I make chickpea and truffle soup which is always very popular. As for herbs, don’t go overboard, but sage and thyme complement truffles. And did I mention that garlic does too?

Making truffle products.

Store bought truffle products will inevitably have some kinds of flavouring added. If this is something you would like to avoid then do read the small print. Most people don’t enjoy being ripped off and the truffle industry is notorious for doing just this. Have a look at the list of ingredients on products you intend to buy. You will usually find that the amount of actual truffle used is minimal. You are being charged an arm and a leg for a mouthful of cheap, synthetic truffle flavor. If you would prefer something more natural, it is simple to make truffle butters and oils at home. Although keep in mind that there is a fairly short sell-by date. We make truffle pastes, truffle oil, truffle honey and truffle salt is also popular. There are several recipes on the site or on our YouTube channel.Frozen truffles are a bad idea as they will turn to mush.

As you can see, this is not a definitive list of how to use truffles and I am speaking in general terms as there are different species of truffles with varying flavour profiles. So these are just some of the most common pairing options to get you started. There are a few things to bear in mind if you intend to experiment – do not use competing flavours with truffles, avoid acid, no tomatoes and strong flavours like olives which will drown out the truffle. And that’s it..if there is anything you would like to add to this list of ways to enjoy truffles, please share your ideas or recipes in the comments.

The post The Beginner’s Guide to Cooking with Truffles appeared first on The Real Truffle Hunters Ltd .

Betty the truffle dog unearths the main ingredient for this dish. A spatchcocked chicken gets dry-brined then stuffed with black truffle paste. The resulting roast is perhaps the most divine chicken known to man and dog

Play Video about black widow chicken

This is a delicious simple dish that my brother concocted. Chicken meat is a perfect vehicle for the truffle flavour. The whole bird is infused and so every bite is truffled deliciousness. The dish is called Black Widow Chicken because of the blackness of the truffles visible through the crispy skin.

 

 

The chicken is spatchcocked to reduce cooking time. This is vital as overcooking will dry out the bird and more importantly will destroy the flavour of the truffle. The skin of the chicken must be left on. It protects the truffle and prevents it from drying out.

Although the actual cooking time is quick, the preparation is slow. You will need to start at least 24 hours in advance. Since you will be handling raw chicken, preparation should also be careful.

Step One

Spatchcock the bird. You can remove the spine with a sharp knife or a kitchen scissors. Cut down one side of the backbone and then repeat on the other side. Keep the bone for stock making. Here’s a video if you need some help.

How to spatchcock a chicken

Step Two

Dry brine the chicken. Pat the chicken dry and place it in a bowl or on a plate flesh side down. Cover the top of the bird with around a cup of salt. I used sea salt but it doesn’t really matter. Dry brining serves 3 purposes.

1. The salt draws out moisture from the skin. This will ensure a crispy roast bird.
2. Salt penetrates the meat and the whole bird will be perfectly seasoned.
3. Salt alters the structure of the protein in the meat and enables it to retain more moisture. The finished chicken will be incredibly juicy.

Leave the chicken uncovered in the fridge for 24 hours. When the time is up, carefully brush off all the salt and pat the bird dry. Step 2 might seem like a lot of hassle and it’s up to you of course if you decide to omit it. But wait – there is a marked difference in a cooked bird which has been dry brined and one which hasn’t. Also you are using truffles, so this is a special occasion meal. God is in the details.

Step Three

Insert a knife between chicken meat and skin and gently separate the two. Try not to cut the skin or make holes in it. Take a teaspoon of truffle paste and insert it into the gap between the skin and meat, push it around as far as you can and massage the truffle paste into the meat. Get up into the legs, and even the wings if you can. (After this step I usually cover the chicken and put it in the fridge for a few hours. The truffle flavour then really permeates deeply into the meat.)

Step Four

Pre-heat the oven to 200 C. (400 F) Put the chicken flesh side down onto a baking tray. If you want you can rub butter into the skin, however there is olive oil in the truffle paste so it’s not necessary. You can also season with freshly ground black pepper but don’t use salt!

Step Five

Roast for about 45 minutes. After the first 20 minutes you should baste the bird. Do this every 10 minutes or so. The most reliable way to tell when the chicken is cooked is to use a thermometer. The internal temperature at the thickest part of the bird (the thigh) should read 74 C (165 F). Remove from the oven and allow the chicken to rest for at least 10 minutes before carving.

Serve the chicken with roast or mashed potatoes. Buttered noodles would also be good. Or rice. Take your pick, but go with accompaniments that combine well with truffles and do not overpower them. Creamy carbs and subtly flavoured comfort foods are your best bet. Avoid anything too acidic – for example tomato salads and truffles don’t work. Also spicy accompaniments are probably out -you don’t want any other flavours that will compete with the truffle.

Hope you enjoy this as much as we do!

The post Black Widow Chicken – Roast Chicken with Black Truffles appeared first on The Real Truffle Hunters Ltd .

The post Tartufata versus Truffled Cream of Chickpea (video) appeared first on The Real Truffle Hunters Ltd .

• 1.5 kilos black summer truffle

• 1/2 teaspoon of coarse Himalayan salt per 500 g of truffle

• 100 g extra virgin olive oil per 500 g of truffle

• fresh grated garlic (to taste) I use 1 clove per 500 g of truffle

The post How to Make Black Truffle Paste (Video) appeared first on The Real Truffle Hunters Ltd .

Black Truffle Paste

Join us in the kitchen where we make the most delicious truffle paste with 1.5 kilos of black summer truffle (Tuber Aestivum Vitt)

Play Video about Truffle sauce ingredients

In the middle of July, the black summer truffle is at its peak and found in abundance in forests across the Mediterranean region. Eating tuber aestivum can be disappointing especially if it is not fully mature. Although it cannot compare to the strong flavour of the winter truffles it does have its own merits and can more than hold its own in the kitchen. It keeps better than the white truffle, it is far more affordable and has a delectable earthy taste which though more subtle than the white and black winter truffles will leave you craving for more. The summer truffle is also far more versatile. It can be gently cooked (unlike the white truffle) which allows you to experiment and to enjoy the pairing of a wider variety of ingredients.

One such amazing combination is the Roman dish of black truffle with artichoke and this has become a definite favourite

Black truffles are divided into two categories. This categorization is not based on taste but on size and appearance.

The A grade truffles must be

• over 20 grams
• undamaged.

These truffles look perfect. Undersized truffles will be graded ‘B’. So will larger truffles which are not completely intact (truffles often break as they are being unearthed or are scratched by enthusiastic dogs). The superior, more aesthetically pleasing ‘A’ truffles invariably end up being shaved over the finished plate in restaurants. However chefs might use ‘B’  truffles in the preparation of the dish. These ‘seconds’ are also used in high quality natural truffle products.

As we have had a plethora of B grade truffles this last week I decided to make a large batch of truffle paste. Make this simple sauce if you would like to stretch out your truffles. It couldn’t be easier as the paste is made with minimal equipment and just 3 or 4 ingredients. Truffle paste keeps for months in the fridge and can be used in dozens of ways from marinades to topping a bruschetta.

How to make black truffle paste

Ingredients

• Black summer truffles

• Good quality salt

• Extra virgin olive oil

• Garlic (optional)

There are no precise weights or quantities, you have to play it by ear and create the paste according to your own taste. Here I used  1.5 kilos of truffle and around 250 ml of olive oil. Then I seasoned with just under a teaspoon of coarse Himalayan salt and a large clove of grated garlic.

Equipment

• Mortar and pestle or a multi-chopper or blender.

• Truffle mandolin or a regular grater.

• Sterilized jar/s and top/s. (You can put the jar in a pot of boiling water for  minute or so, remove and drain upside down on a clean towel. Make sure the top for your jar is a new one).

Method

• Grate or shave the truffles

• Transfer the truffle shavings into the mortar and pound them into a paste. This is thirsty work and rather violent so you might need to drink a cold beer on the job.

• As  you are pulverizing your truffles you should add the olive oil little by little. Season too as you go along.

• I also pummelled a clove of garlic in the mortar – just enough to give the paste a subtle garlic flavour. When I am actually using the paste I will put a bit more garlic in if the dish requires it. The same applies to the salt, I tend not to go overboard and use just enough to enhance the truffle flavour. As for the oil, the consistency of the paste should be loose and the truffle and oil should be well mixed. Try to blend to the point where the mixture is spreadable.

• The final stage is to spoon the paste into jars. Press the mixture down into the jar so there are no air pockets. Cover with more olive oil and tightly screw on the lid. Keep in the fridge.

There are so many ways to enjoy this paste that I will leave that for a separate post.

Here is a teaser. This is my brother’s Black Widow Chicken.

The post Black Truffle Paste (Tuber Aestivum) appeared first on The Real Truffle Hunters Ltd .

Gnocchi di Patate con Tartufo Bianco

Ingredients

5 baking potatoes (around 1 kilo/2.2 lb)

2 egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup grated parmesan

Approximately 100 g/4 oz 00 flour (if you can get it, if not all purpose flour)

Method

1. Heat oven to 350 F/180 C and bake potatoes for one hour or until soft when pierced with a fork.

2. Peel potatoes and mash until smooth. You could also use a ricer but avoid blenders.

3. In a bowl combine the yolks, salt, nutmeg and cheese.

4. Add the mashed potatoes to the egg mixture. Begin to add the flour (gradually – a spoon at a time) until dough holds together. The mixture should be soft and light but firm enough to roll. Don’t overwork it!

5. Dust the work surface with flour and roll out the potato mixture into a sausage shape about 1 inch/2.5 cm thick.

6. Chop into pieces of around 3/4 of an inch or just under 2cm.

7. Shape each piece of dough with the tines of a fork, rolling it along one side while creating an impression on the other side with your finger.

8. Place on a lightly floured surface or freeze on baking parchment.

Cooking

9. Heat a large pot of salted water, when it comes to a rolling boil drop in the gnocchi using a slotted spoon.

10. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until the gnocchi begin to float. Remove with your slotted spoon.

The post Julia’s Grandmother’s Gnocchi with White Truffle appeared first on The Real Truffle Hunters Ltd .

When cooking any dish which will be served with white truffle simplicity is key and this is a cleverly simple dish. Cream and mushrooms are a perfect accompaniment to the white truffle as they don’t challenge its strong aroma. The fresh tagliatelle is made with spinach from the garden. This adds an interesting flavour to the dish without being overpowering. Obviously you can use shop-bought tagliatelle if you don’t want to go to the trouble of making your own pasta. However you should not fear rolling your own – it’s fairly easy to get the hang of and will definitely make a difference. I think that the finished dish is a special one and as such merits using the best ingredients possible.

Tagliatelle Ingredients ( Serves four)

• 225 gr fresh spinach
• 3 free range eggs
• 1 tsp salt
• 250 gr flour (tipo 00 is preferable)

Put spinach in a pan of boiling water, push down leaves till submerged. Boil for about 2 minutes until wilted and soft. Drain.

Cool spinach and squeeze well to extract as much moisture as possible. Put in a food processor with the eggs and salt. Pulse until finely chopped. Squeeze out more moisture if you can

Add the flour to the processor about a tablespoon at a time. Pulse three or four times after each addition. When you have added all the flour, pulse until the dough comes together in a ball.

Next knead the dough on a well floured surface for about 5 minutes. The finished dough should be soft but not sticky. If it does seem sticky add a little more flour as you knead.

Wrap the dough in cling film (seran wrap) and let it rest at room temperature for at least half an hour.

Prepare trays for the finished pasta, dusting them with flour. Split the dough into 4 balls, cover 3 of the balls with a damp cloth so they don’t dry out.

Take your pasta ball, flatten it out slightly, dust it with flour then pass it through the pasta roller on the widest setting about 4 times until it is smooth. If the pasta becomes at all sticky, flour it. Then set the machine to the smaller settings ans pass the paste sheet through once or twice. Repeat at each setting until you get to the thickness you prefer. Cut the sheet into tagliatelle either use the cutter attachment or a knife and place the finished taglietelle onto the prepared trays in a single layer. Cover with a damp cloth.

Once all the balls are rolled and cut, place handfuls at a time in well salted boiling water for around 2-3 minutes until al dente.

Mushroom cream sauce

• 30g  butter
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil 
• 300g sliced mushrooms
• 2 finely chopped garlic cloves
• 125 ml white wine 
• 125ml chicken stock 
• 185ml cream 
• 30g grated parmesan
• 1/2 tsp salt and pepper 

Method

Melt butter and add oil to a large skillet over high heat.

Add mushrooms and cook, stirring regularly. When they start to sweat, add a pinch of salt and pepper.

When golden (about 4 – 5 minutes), add garlic and cook .

Add wine, stir, scraping the bottom of the skillet. Simmer rapidly until wine is mostly evaporated. Add broth, cream, parmesan, salt and pepper. Stir to dissolve parmesan and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring regularly.

Add pasta to the sauce, tossing until sauce coats pasta. If sauce appears too thick, add a ladle of the pasta cooking water.

Plate and serve with shaved white truffle.

The post Spinach Tagliatelle With Mushroom Sauce and White Truffle Recipe appeared first on The Real Truffle Hunters Ltd .

Should we take the chef’s word for it? Probably yes, the guy has got a notoriously vicious tongue as well as 3 Michelin stars. However truffle oil is a controversial ingredient. Now firmly in the doghouse, it was once widely used in the best of kitchens.

Even in Ramsay’s case there has been a similar turnaround. Just a couple of years prior to his Masterchef rant, he appeared in another far kinder video promoting the use of white truffle oil. Who would believe it ? Here is a calmer version of Gordon rustling up his ‘Truffled Cream Cheese’ by first chopping up a few chives and then merrily pouring truffle oil over a pack of Philadelphia.

He then recommends knocking up this truffly, cheesy creation for your pre-Christmas dinner snack to soothe the spirits of your cranky guests. If you are still not convinced by his amuse-bouche, then you will be as Gordon confides ‘we serve these in the restaurant’. So, no mention of the oil being ridiculous then? No no, Gords merely warns those wishing to recreate his restaurant’s recipe against using large amounts of the truffle oil on account of its strong, pungent flavour.

Finally as he tucks into his finished snack, Ramsay coos about the ‘amazing’ and ‘delicious’ taste. How could anyone have predicted that some months down the line he would be destroying some unsuspecting Masterchef contestant for taking his Yuletide tips to heart?

What had happened in the meantime for the chef to change his stance so vehemently? Bear in mind that Ramsay is not the only chef to speak out so strongly against the oil. Anthony Bourdain called the product ‘horrible’ adding ‘it’s not even food. It’s really on a par with -and about as edible as – Astroglide. And made from the same stuff.’ So no truffle oil on his risotto either.

People do change their minds about ingredients. There may be a shift in perception regarding the health benefits or lack of. Consider butter and how, labelled a killer, it was vehemently shunned , only to reemerge years later as margarine’s healthier natural successor.

Trends will also come and go affecting what is on the menu- last year’s popular ingredients may be the kiss of death in this year’s more fashionable circles. The key word in the kitchen is fresh, ingredients have to be fresh and many restaurants need to have fresh ideas to set themselves apart in a highly competitive market. It is no longer the role of a. restaurant to simply feed hungry people and chefs are no longer regarded as simple cooks.

Chefs are artists, they create and need to be seen as cutting edge in order to survive. Impressive new ingredients find their way onto the menu but once too many other restaurants start jumping on the bandwagon, it’s time for those ingredients to make way for something fresher, something more innovative.

With truffle oil however, its fall from grace was not simply a matter of health nor was it just about fashion. There were other factors too. Somehow, somewhere in the world of truffles there always seems to be some form of deceit and truffle oil is no exception. It is widely considered to be a massive scam and with good reason.

First of all , what is truffle oil? There is no oil tο be found in truffles but they do contain around 50 volatile compounds, the strongest of which is 2,4- Dithiapentane, also called bis(methylthio)methane. Its synthesis was first reported in 1941 by Böhme and Marx at Berlin University.

In 1966 the compound was isolated from white truffles in a collaborative work between Fiecchi et al. from Milan University and San Giorgio Essences based in Turin. This study demonstrated that 2,4-Dithiapentane is the principle odor of tuber magnatum pico (the precious white truffle).This knowledge lead to the gas being synthesized in the lab. 2,4-dithiapentane, also known as “formaldehyde dimethyl mercaptal,” is synthetically prepared by the acid-catalyzed addition of methyl mercaptan to formaldehyde. Although it emulates the taste and smell of truffles, it is of course not truffle. From then on it could be combined with sunflower -or if you were lucky olive- oil. The resulting liquid was sold to the public as truffle oil.

When this product first became really popular during the 80’s it had been marketed as a rare, luxury item. An affordable way to eat a very expensive food. The fact that this oil had never been near a truffle in its life was conveniently overlooked. After all the mark-up price on truffle oil was incredible. Known as liquid gold, it could be produced for a few cents, poured into a fancy bottle and sold for upwards of $40. Truffle companies were getting wealthy on the back of the general public’s ignorance.

When this product first became really popular during the 80’s it had been marketed as a rare, luxury item. An affordable way to eat a very expensive food. The fact that this oil had never been near a truffle in its life was conveniently overlooked. After all the mark-up price on truffle oil was incredible. Known as liquid gold, it could be produced for a few cents, poured into a fancy bottle and sold for upwards of $40. Truffle companies were getting wealthy on the back of the general public’s ignorance.

The majority of customers were easily duped as most people are not familiar with the true taste of a fresh truffle. But what about the chefs? Perhaps many of those outside of Italy had not had many opportunities to sample white truffles and could plead ignorance if they really had to. Others in the restaurant business were surely part of the ruse. Put it this way, if you have tasted both truffles and truffle oil you know that the oil tastes absolutely nothing like a white truffle. There other forty-odd gases found in a white truffle which are missing in the oil, so it completely lacks the nuances and depth of flavour found in the real thing. Truffle oil comprises one singular overriding smell that hits you like a punch in the nose. Surely professionals could tell the difference.

Most chefs understandably have chosen not to address the matter of whether they were taken in or were part of the game. They just don’t use the stuff any more.

So what happens when a product falls out of favour like this? Truffle companies needed to find a way to keep selling their product even though by now people had got wise and the reputation of truffle oil had been severely tarnished.

Very quickly there were some curious new developments. Realising that the public were no longer drooling over their extravagantly-priced bottles of chemically infused sunflower oil, truffle companies turned their talents to making ‘natural truffle oil’.

Several companies claim that they now use processes such as vacuum extraction in order to create naturally infused truffle oils as opposed to artificially infused oils.They are vexingly vague about details but maintain that the technique they now employ is similar to that used to extract CBD from the cannabis plant.

Oil is used as the vehicle to carry this gassy extraction and occasionally some truffle remnants are thrown in the bottle lest you forget that truffle oil is now natural. A little reminder that the companies have reinvented their product as something organic – world’s apart from the nasty chemically-based truffle oil they used to sell and have now handily forgotten about. Investigations have shown that this ‘natural’ oil is not what it says on the label. Despite vehement protestations,the companies are still up to their old tricks it seems.

A second ruse that you should be aware of are the following shenanigans which several leading truffle companies are guilty of. This semi-deception is aimed at those who are not au fait with the truffle’s Latin names. In other words, the vast majority of the general populace.

One leading manufacturer of truffle products sells :White Truffle Oil. There is a label on the bottle which say White Truffle Oil in large letters and the ingredients list ‘white truffles’

However you are probably not buying what you thought you were buying as more thorough search reveals the following details hidden within the small print.

‘Double concentrated truffle oil made with the highest quality European White Truffles (Tuber Borchii) & extra virgin olive oil.’

There are two kinds of white European truffle – the tuber magnatum pico, which is known as the Alba truffle or the white winter truffle and the tuber borchii, the spring white truffle otherwise known as the bianchetto. The latter bears no relation to the expensive white truffle everyone makes a fuss about. Tuber borchii is far inferior in flavour and as a result costs a fraction of the price of tuber magnatum pico.

Nothing illegal in this truffle company’s practice but still rather dubious. Unless they presume the public know what ‘tuber borchii’ are? Which isn’t likely, there isn’t a great market for tuber borchii, in fact most consumers are not aware of their existence. So unless you are a white spring truffle fan, you need to check the small print carefully.

To make matters worse there are also health concerns regarding the chemical contents of ‘truffle’ oil. The Material Safety Data Sheet on 2,4-dithiapentane has many cautions and warnings. As well as being flammable, it is listed as being a severe irritant to eyes, lungs and skin. Ingested the chemical can cause central nervous system depression. Inhaled, it can lead to delayed pulmonary edema. Just so you know.

Some people love truffle oil, others start foaming at the mouth at the mention of the name. Personally I love it. I have never eaten it but  we use it for training our truffle puppies. I put drops of synthetic oil on old socks and hide them around the house when the dogs are starting out. Other people put truffle oil on their chips or popcorn, and why not if that is what you like?

The most annoying thing about truffle oil is not that it doesn’t taste like truffle nor that it’s over-used. What has really ralled people is all of the misleading drivel. Truffle companies have been quick to exploit the fact that customers tend to be unfamiliar with ingredients as rare as truffles. Their shady behaviour is unremitting, never stopping simply taking on new forms. If that is not enough to put you off truffle oil, then at least check the label before you buy – you might even come away with a clearer idea about what is actually in the bottle.

The post Is Truffle Oil Worth Buying? appeared first on The Real Truffle Hunters Ltd .