Tried an Oregon truffle lately?

[Jenise]

Last week I bought some white Oregon truffles from a vendor at the Pike Place market. What tempted me was the distinct funky truffle aroma--I didn't even realize white truffle were being grown in Oregon. Plus, no Oregon truffle I previously had, and about ten years have passed since I recall even running into one, actually had that funky truffle personality--they were earthy without any interesting barnyardy smell or flavor and therefore not worth bothering with. This vendor also had some attractively aromatic black ones, but the whites were stronger so I went with the whites. I bought three for about $60.

I've never had fresh white truffle from Piedmonte so can't comment about the difference, but while I'm sure these were nowhere near as pungent, they were worth a foodie's attention. One thing that was interesting was that though all were white, each was a slightly different shade of white (or beige, if you will) and each tasted slightly different with the whitest being the strongest and the darkest being the least strong. Which might have been more coincidental than not, I have no idea; but the experience does make me once-again hopeful about commercial truffle production.

I read not long ago that a guy in Tennessee seems to have produced truffles there that wowed some well-known chefs.

[Jenise]

Oooh, look! The Tennessee truffle lives! Check out the "brief intro video" about how this guy got started.

http://tennesseetruffle.com/

Here is a source. I still haven't gotten up the nerve to mortgate the house to purchase any yet!

Our local food co-op sometimes stocks Oregon truffles (at about $80/oz!). I bit on small ones twice and was sorely disappointed in both cases. These were black truffles, though, so perhaps the white ones are better.

We've been getting them here at the store in ATX for about 3 years now. I've found that they lose their "oomph" pretty quickly and don't add much (as much as I would like) to a dish.

I've had the opportunity on three occasions to try real Piemontese truffles, both white and black; not even close.

rwj

Here is a source. I still haven't gotten up the nerve to mortgate the house to purchase any yet!

Jo Ann, this is the place I buy dried mushrooms. Got a pound of pretty darn good porcini for $20 on sale, and they threw in 2oz of dried European porcini.

This thread was worth the price of admission. Affordable truffles at last! One could even purchase both TN and OR truffles and do a taste test, which is what I hope to do at some point. Both are quite reasonably priced.

[Jenise]

Craig, as the Tennessee guy said if you watched the video, freshness is key. (Speaking of which, I was very impressed with how those three little white truffles stunk up my entire refrigerator in three days--shouldn't have let them go that long before using, but it's a nice testament to their power. No other truffle I've ever bought came close to doing that.)

I bit on small ones twice and was sorely disappointed in both cases. These were black truffles, though, so perhaps the white ones are better.

This was our experience with the black as well, Mike. But have never tried the white from Oregon.