I just ordered a fresh black truffle!

[Jenise]

Special friends will be in town and staying with us next Friday night, so the black truffle offer from D'Artagnans that came this morning suddenly sounded irresistable. Now I must decide what to do with it, though I'm not sure that thinking it over real hard will dissuade me from going with my first instinct: a risotto. The last one I bought went into some black truffle and fresh corn tamales a la Mark Miller that I served as a garnish for a southwestern flavored cilantro and quail terrine en croute. And the only other one I ever bought was simply shaved over pasta.

Hmmm.....

Before I finished reading your message I was prepareing a mental response telling you to use it in a risotto, or shave it over simple oil dressed pasta! Great minds and all that. The truffle deserves to be showcased, not competed with.

BTW, the Chinese truffles we get here ( and presumably also down there?) aren't half bad.

[Jenise]

Before I finished reading your message I was prepareing a mental response telling you to use it in a risotto, or shave it over simple oil dressed pasta! Great minds and all that. The truffle deserves to be showcased, not competed with.

BTW, the Chinese truffles we get here ( and presumably also down there?) aren't half bad.

I didn't even know there was such a thing as a Chinese truffle! What do they run?

For me, white truffles are better shaved raw than black. Black are excellent, but need some heat to bring out all their flavor. For risotto, I would consider adding them right before the mantecatura. YMMV

I didn't even know there was such a thing as a Chinese truffle! What do they run?

Well for the most part they don't they just sit there.....

But they cost about 1/20 of what the black French truffe does and they look pretty similar. Ask our favourite restaurateur next time you see him.

FWIW I have been disappointed with Italian whites on several occasions - just lacking flavour. Not all the time, but enough to make me leery of them.

What Greg said.

How about making ravioli with a potato and pumpkin filling and a slice of truffle in each one? (Had a dish similar to that at Troisgros last year called Mezzaluna de pomme de terre, potimarron et truffe.)

[Jenise]

What Greg said.

How about making ravioli with a potato and pumpkin filling and a slice of truffle in each one? (Had a dish similar to that at Troisgros last year called Mezzaluna de pomme de terre, potimarron et truffe.)

Ooh, I love that idea! After posting this, I got greedy and ordered a second truffle, so maybe I'll have enough to do both.

Not the world's best picture but this is what the mezzalune looked like.

Oh, and, no, I did not click my camera in a Michelin three-star. The photo is a borrow from my (irreverent) dining companion on that trip.

Seared Foie and black truffles. Rabbit saddle stuffed with truffle and foie, wrapped in pancetta. Black truffle frittata. I too also like riso with truffles and you could make Tortelli with bufala ricotta and black truffle. You also may want to try Mikuni for truffles, this is where I get mine and the quality and price are unbeatable. I just brought in some Bianchetto for $340 a pound. Winters are $950 and burgundy at 360. you can buy in 4 to 8 oz. min. and they are delivered overnight. http://www.mikuniwildharvest.com. D Art, wants $125 a oz. thats 2000 a pound. I would take a pound of Bianchetto, compared to 2 oz of winter from D art, you would blow your guest away, your whole house will smell like white truffles, you could have truffles with every meal and you could even make gelato if you wanted.

All excellent suggestions but there is nothing finer in the known universe than piping hot omelets with fresh truffle scraped over. And with the omelets the finest Burgundy red you can afford.

Well, and of course if you are dining with Joel Robuchon, a whole truffle wrapped in filo dough and served with demi-glace or Espagnole sauce spooned over. In such circumstances, the de rigueur beverage is a fine Brut Champagne and the company should be that person you consider to be possessed of the greatest sexual and intellectual appeal.

Best
Rogov

[Jenise]

Seared Foie and black truffles. Rabbit saddle stuffed with truffle and foie, wrapped in pancetta. Black truffle frittata. I too also like riso with truffles and you could make Tortelli with bufala ricotta and black truffle. You also may want to try Mikuni for truffles, this is where I get mine and the quality and price are unbeatable. I just brought in some Bianchetto for $340 a pound. Winters are $950 and burgundy at 360. you can buy in 4 to 8 oz. min. and they are delivered overnight. http://www.mikuniwildharvest.com. D Art, wants $125 a oz. thats 2000 a pound. I would take a pound of Bianchetto, compared to 2 oz of winter from D art, you would blow your guest away, your whole house will smell like white truffles, you could have truffles with every meal and you could even make gelato if you wanted.

Rick, I employed shorthand when writing my initial post: it was the D'Artagnan offer that inspired me to buy truffles for next Friday night, but I ordered mine from Urbani. D'Artagnan is indeed overly expensive. I'll check out mikuni with whom I wasn't previously familiar.

Tell me about burgundy truffles. Urbani also had those on offer too, and I am fairly certain I've never tasted one.

I had planned to order a black truffle for our last wine group and was going to make a decadent mac n' cheese with it.
Then someone in our group requested to bring scalloped potatoes, so I shifted to the 7-hour leg of lamb. I'm still craving that mac n' cheese.

Great and timely topic. I've been thinking about making an order from Oregon Mushroomsand was going to include a truffle order. Does anyone have experience with them? I don't have any experience with truffles (except for salt and oil), and would much prefer that my first exepriments not cut into my burial fund!

Jo Ann.....

As to expenses should you become addicted to the black truffle, best bet will be to buy a beagle, to travel to Languedoc and to pass several happy months truffle snuffling with the dog. And even if you find not a single truffle, beagles are great company when in the forest.

Best
Rogov

Great and timely topic. I've been thinking about making an order from Oregon Mushroomsand was going to include a truffle order. Does anyone have experience with them? I don't have any experience with truffles (except for salt and oil), and would much prefer that my first exepriments not cut into my burial fund!

Were you looking at their domestic truffles, Jo Ann? I've bought a couple of black truffles from our food co-op that I believe were from Oregon and I can't say I was impressed. I have no idea whether that's indicative of Oregon truffles overall or not, though. I also don't know how they were stored.

You might want to order a small amount to start with and see what you think.

HI, Mike
Yes, I was considering the domestic truffle. Although, not a frozen one. Somehow freezing a truffle seems like sacrilege to me! I'll see if I can get 1 oz of Italian or French black truffle. Burial fund -- here I come!

[Jenise]

The Oregon truffles I've had mirror Mike's experience. They're not entirely tasteless, but close. They offer nothing like the French or Italian ones.

Come on guys. When the great god Kobu Tanu* planted the first truffles he determined that the black ones would be in Perigord and the white in Piedmont.

I've tasted truffles from Oregon, the Negev Dessert, China, and Mongolia. Ain't no way like the Perigord and Piedmont truffles. Moral of the story - Don't mess with Kobu Tanu!!!!

Best
Rogov

*For those not in the know, Kobu Tanu was the great god of the Caribe Indians. Being a kind and generous god, however, he also kept the rest of the world in mind with his goodies.

It's quite fashionable to dislike Oregon truffles. Let me just say this - they are different.

Now, Oregon morels and matsutakes on the other hand...

Not to mention West Virginia morels. The season starts in another six or seven weeks.

[Jenise]

It's quite fashionable to dislike Oregon truffles. Let me just say this - they are different.

They're not untasty, they just lack that essential truffle magic so, as a substitute for Italian/French, they'll underperform expectations every time.