Hocus-Pocus, and a Beaker of Truffles

By DANIEL PATTERSON


A TRUFFLE by any other name may smell as sweet, but what if that name is 2,4-dithiapentane? All across the country, in restaurants great and small, the “truffle” flavor advertised on menus is increasingly being supplied by truffle oil. What those menus don’t say is that, unlike real truffles, the aroma of truffle oil is not born in the earth. Most commercial truffle oils are concocted by mixing olive oil with one or more compounds like 2,4-dithiapentane (the most prominent of the hundreds of aromatic molecules that make the flavor of white truffles so exciting) that have been created in a laboratory; their one-dimensional flavor is also changing common understanding of how a truffle should taste.

When I discovered truffle oil as a chef in the late 1990’s, I was thrilled. So much flavor, so little expense. I suppose I could have given some thought to how an ingredient that cost $60 an ounce or more could be captured so expressively in an oil that sold for a dollar an ounce. I might have wondered why the price of the oils didn’t fluctuate along with the price of real truffles; why the oils of white and black truffles cost the same, when white truffles themselves were more than twice as expensive as black; or why the quality of oils didn’t vary from year to year like the natural ingredients. But I didn’t. Instead I happily used truffle oil for several years (even, embarrassingly, recommending it in a cookbook), until finally a friend cornered me at a farmers’ market to explain what I had should have known all along. I glumly pulled all my truffle oil from the restaurant shelves and traded it to a restaurant down the street for some local olive oil.

That truffle oil is chemically enhanced is not news. It has been common knowledge among most chefs for some time, and in 2003 Jeffrey Steingarten wrote an article in Vogue about the artificiality of the oils that by all rights should have shorn the industry of its “natural” fig leaf. Instead, the use of truffle oil continued apace. The question is, Why are so many chefs at all price points — who wouldn’t dream of using vanillin instead of vanilla bean and who source their organic baby vegetables and humanely raised meats with exquisite care — using a synthetic flavoring agent?

Part of the answer is that, even now, you will find chefs who are surprised to hear that truffle oil does not actually come from real truffles. “I thought that it was made from dried bits and pieces of truffles steeped in olive oil,” said Vincent Nargi of Cafe Cluny in Manhattan, which made me put down my pen and scratch my head. The flavor of real truffles, especially black, is evanescent, difficult to capture in an oil under the best of circumstances.

But, much as I did for years, chefs want to believe. Stories of sightings of natural truffle oil abound, like a gourmand’s answer to the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus. One chef told me in an excited, slightly conspiratorial tone that Jing Tio of Le Sanctuaire in Santa Monica, Calif., who sells high-quality specialty ingredients to chefs, mixed his own oil to order.


Read the entire story in the New York Times

Notes from Music City- (From December)

~~This past Saturday we went over to Corrieri's for a wine, cheese and truffle product tasting. The weather was perfect as the event was held outside in the "courtyard" in front of Corrieri's and we sampled some Australian wines while hearing fun stories about the vineyards and people that produced the very wines we were enjoying. It was a nice intimate setting with no more than 15-20 people at a time around talking and enjoying the wine which made it seem more of a pleasure. You know how it goes, we all love to be there when something is fresh and new and not yet "discovered" by the masses. Well, I know this is one of those things and I'm so glad to have been a part of it and plan on attending the next one as well, whenever that is.

After hearing the stories of Dave Bidelman, who works with wine and has toured quite a few vineyards, and getting all warm and fuzzy from the wine we wandered over to a table set up by Kenneth Jones, owner of SullaTavola, where he had all sorts of imported truffle products. He had an assortment of cheeses and some bread to dip in the truffle oils or spread truffle jelly on it.
My taste buds and senses were in a heavenly overload and I was loving it and never wanted to leave. After finally deciding I wanted to get something more to eat and since we were just around the corner from Mafiaoza's Pizzeria and Neighborhood Pub. There we shared a pizza, talked, laughed and just had a really good time. After we finished the pizza we went next door to Vinea wine shop and enjoyed a fine selection that they have and purchased a bottle of Marquis/Phillips Cabernet to bring home with me. Suddenly it hit me that I wasn't ready to leave yet and that I had to go back to Corrieri's to get some cannoli for dessert. As always, it was a little bit of heaven.

Thanks to Brett, Brandon, Mark and everyone else that made all the fun this past Saturday happen. I can't wait to do it again.

Some of the wines we enjoyed. They are all grown in the southeastern Australia.
Pipers Red Box
Marquis/Phillips
Piranga

**Vinea wine shop carries all of the wines from this particular tasting so feel free to stop in there and ask them questions and enjoy.**

~~Restaurants visited~~~

Mafiaoza's Pizzeria~
"The Last Request pizza"A really delicious pizza in a warm and friendly atmosphere that is fun and keeps you around for a while just soaking it all in.

~Corrieri's~
We had some cannoli after dinner that was excellent and Corrieri's is such a wonderful place to visit for imported cheeses, sandwiches, soups and they also offer things you can take home and prepare yourself.

~Hermitage Cafe~
This is a blast from the past kind of place where most everyone knows each other and you will feel like you are family by the time you leave. Two visits here recently allowed me to enjoy a chili cheeseburger with fries that was messy, greasy and so good. I ate a good bit of it with my hands but after they were covered in chili, I decided to use a fork for the rest and clean up a bit.

~Hot Diggity Dog~
I was there recently on a really beautiful day and sat out back on the deck in the sun and enjoyed the taste of the dogs with all the stuff that comes on them. Also thought the fries were a perfect combo of taste, crispiness and grease. Really good stuff that brings you back time and time again.