Truffles: White or Black? And mail-order recommendations?

Friends of mine got married a couple months ago and I've been pondering wedding gift ideas for the couple who has everything. I finally decided that a truffle or two would be a welcome treat, because they're both food lovers.

While I love to eat truffles, I haven't ever personally purchased or cooked with them. Can anyone weigh in with suggestions? My thoughts:

1. I want to spend about $250, max.
2. I want fresh, not brushed/jarred.
3. My instinct is that I should get them a black truffle because it's gives them a bit more cooking flexibility.

If you think any of those conclusions are wrong, please let me know.

Things I don't know & would appreciate feedback on:
1. From a quality perspective, are larger truffles better than smaller ones? (For example, is there something objectively better about one 2oz truffle than two 1oz truffles?)
2. French or Italian? Or isn't there a significant difference?
3. I'll be sending this to Michigan. Any recommended sources (either in Chicago so I can ship it myself or via mail order) that are known for their quality but not their outrageous markups?
4. Other things I should consider?

Thanks!

If you're cooking w/them, I'd do black. If you're shaving them @ table, I'd bite the bullet and get a white Italian. Wholesale about $100 an oz. Be glad to get it for you if that's what you decide. PM me.

Jazzfood wrote:If you're cooking w/them, I'd do black. If you're shaving them @ table, I'd bite the bullet and get a white Italian. Wholesale about $100 an oz. Be glad to get it for you if that's what you decide. PM me.

Jazzfood: Thank you thank you thank you for the offer. I really appreciate it, and will certainly take you up on it. I just checked with my friends re. their travel schedule (I want to make sure they're home when it arrives, though they don't know what they're receiving), and they said early March is best for them. I know March is toward the end of the season. Is availability still decent at that point, or at that point should I just give them an IOU and wait until next fall?

not directly related, but a summation of last weekend's Oregon truffle festival....
http://www.dailyemerald.com/scene/truff ... -1.1949530

i have been reading mastering the art of french cooking (where they mention truffles) and recently had some truffle fries on vacation. i would like to become more familiar with this foodstuff so i am looking to buy some truffles somewhere in chicago. has anyone found these things anywhere?

jdchurchill wrote:i have been reading mastering the art of french cooking (where they mention truffles) and recently had some truffle fries on vacation. i would like to become more familiar with this foodstuff so i am looking to buy some truffles somewhere in chicago. has anyone found these things anywhere?

They are very season-specific and I'm not sure if now is the right time. In any case F & O would carry them in season. It's probably best to shoot Jazzfood (above) a PM.

This is peak season for Australian truffles, which I'm told aren't half bad.

they're supposed to be decent. @ $800 lb wholesale they should be.

Dmnkly wrote:This is peak season for Australian truffles, which I'm told aren't half bad.

Jazzfood wrote:they're supposed to be decent. @ $800 lb wholesale they should be.

These Australian truffles are very impressive. Very nice size and firm. One of them was 1/4 pound in weight.

Frank Brunacci, the former chef at Sixteen, is now in the truffle biz: http://www.thechefsdiamond.com/

I have not tasted these truffles, some or all of which are Australian. There's a wide range in prices: check out the Products page on the site listed above.

in mastering the art of french cooking they mention canned truffles. has anyone worked with these?

jdchurchill wrote:in mastering the art of french cooking they mention canned truffles. has anyone worked with these?

Just like canned asparagus.

Evil Ronnie wrote:

jdchurchill wrote:in mastering the art of french cooking they mention canned truffles. has anyone worked with these?

Just like canned asparagus.

Different times... different times...

bean wrote:[In any case F & O would carry them in season.

Do not buy truffles at Fox & Obel unless you enjoy wasting large sums of money. The morons read somewhere or had a customer tell them that you're supposed to store truffles in rice. But instead of burying them in the rice they lay a thin layer of rice at the bottom of a wet plastic container, then place the truffles right on top and cover the container tightly. You can always see a lot of condensation in the container and often visible mold on the truffles. Morons. Really.

so how 'bout this: how much do i need (and like what should i do with it?) cuz at $800/lb that's like $2/g, right? so what like a 1/4 oz to make some truffle fries or what the heck is the best way to enjoy a truffle?

jdchurchill wrote:so how 'bout this: how much do i need (and like what should i do with it?) cuz at $800/lb that's like $2/g, right? so what like a 1/4 oz to make some truffle fries or what the heck is the best way to enjoy a truffle?

Scrambled eggs would be a good start.

The most reliable retail mail-order source of fresh truffles is probably Earthy Delights. They only have summer truffles in stock at present, though. They do carry frozen truffles, as well, which are at least a superior alternative to canned.

jdchurchill wrote:i have been reading mastering the art of french cooking (where they mention truffles) and recently had some truffle fries on vacation. i would like to become more familiar with this foodstuff so i am looking to buy some truffles somewhere in chicago. has anyone found these things anywhere?

I'd bet a paycheck that the truffle flavor in your fries came from truffle oil which may or may not(the latter is most possible) contain any real truffle essence but usually an artificial ester.
The truffle market and the caviar market have become fraught with fake and substandard products as the crooks try to cash in on an ever increasingly scarce commodity.
I have stopped purchasing fresh truffles, both black and white and imported sturgeon caviar for the above reasons.
I regard to canned black truffles, if a reputable source and reasonable in cost, I only use in a pate or sauteed foie gras.-Dick

A lot of places doing truffle fries these days are using truffle salt, which at least contains a small amount of dried real truffle in it. This is how Edzo's and Big & Little's do it. I think Franks 'n Dawgs tosses the fries in a truffle butter. All three are a lot better than the places that douse in truffle oil. Ugh.

One problem w/truffle salt I've found is that by the time I get the longed for truffle flavor, it's too salty.

Slightly OT but a recent German style potato salad with some truffle mustard from Graziano's was damn good.

yea i was really tasting those damn fries (like a scientist) and i couldn't put my finger on what was the truffle taste, thus my current desire for more familiarity with these "diamonds of the kitchen."

so truffled scrambled eggs, huh? how much truffles does one require for this application?

jdchurchill wrote:so truffled scrambled eggs, huh? how much truffles does one require for this application?

Enough so a portion looks like this:



Would not eat again with Mulefoot bacon: the bacon fat, though luscious to the point of being lustrous, coats the buds and inhibits the transmission of truffltude to the brain.

jdchurchill wrote:in mastering the art of french cooking they mention canned truffles. has anyone worked with these?

I have - they're great in cooked applications - from sauces to even macarons. The Pébeyre family provides some of the best to Michelin 3 star chefs.

It just occurred to me that I'd like to buy a fresh truffle tomorrow! Pastoral and Binny's in Lakeview say they don't have any. Has anyone seen any recently?

Perigourd truffle pieces





You might try calling Frank Brunacci.

The Chefs Diamond
PO BOX 3264
Munster, IN 46321

PH: 219-798-5662

chgoeditor wrote:It just occurred to me that I'd like to buy a fresh truffle tomorrow! Pastoral and Binny's in Lakeview say they don't have any. Has anyone seen any recently?

I wouldn't trust Binny's truffles anyway--the clerk there told be they were kept frozen.
You could try F&O, but I'd call before I make the trip.

Evil Ronnie wrote:Perigourd truffle pieces





You might try calling Frank Brunacci.

The Chefs Diamond
PO BOX 3264
Munster, IN 46321

PH: 219-798-5662

Talk about food porn!

Would it be possible for folks here to pool resources and place a bulk order at reduced costs? We obviously wouldn't get wholesale prices, but I'm betting that within an hour, we'd have over a dozen people willing to split a few thousand dollars worth of product. And besides cost, each person could probably get both more variety, and far less waste.

The last wholesale price I was quoted was $1,300 lb for black French Perigord. Not that I want to middle man anything but could prob make it happen if there really was some interest.