White truffle oil: still hot or tired trend?

[Jenise]

A friend--who is a trained, working chef but who doesn't neccessarily keep up with what's going on outside our area--and I had an interesting discussion about this ingredient this weekend. Talking about restaurant menus in places like San Francisco and New York, he says white truffle oil is still 'hot'. I said "no, it's yesterday. It's a useful seasoning ingredient but adding it to a dish doesn't automatically sell covers the way it used to--all the foodies have it at home now."

Who's right?

To anyone who's been eating out on a regular basis? Old news. I think my brother brought this back from Italy for me more than 10 years ago.

I'm still watching Top Chef, and in the last episode, the finalists cooked for Napa Chefs. One of the best chefs used truffle oil, and one of their criticisms--one of their FIRST criticisms--was that the oil was way too yesterday.

B

Used to see it featured a lot on menus here. But I can't recall the last time I saw it specifically touted.

[Jenise]

I'm still watching Top Chef, and in the last episode, the finalists cooked for Napa Chefs. One of the best chefs used truffle oil, and one of their criticisms--one of their FIRST criticisms--was that the oil was way too yesterday.

B

Thanks for the confirmation. I was quite surprised that my friend was so convinced otherwise.