I'm looking through my April 2006 Gourmet magazine (for something my husband can make me for dinner tonight) and what do I see but 1) a recipe for prosciutto-wrapped asparagus with truffle butter on page 10 and 2) an article on training your dog to hunt truffles in NEW JERSEY www.truffleusa.com!!! AND you can take your pet to search for truffles in NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, and WASHINGTON. The fella's website is cute - for $350 he will train your dog to hunt truffles and give you a jar of truffles (obviously for training).

GEEEE, if I start now, could I have a dog ready for truffle hunting by June? Oh, that's right...no truffles in June. Rats.

>>truffle hunting by June? Oh, that's right...no truffles in June. <<

And like I said previously, local Calif (never had any) & Oregon truffles are not much better than a brown mushroom.

For $350 you can buy a half dozen Italian white truffles next fall & winter.

Stu Dudley

True, but then I wouldn't get a puppy.

To continue on this delectable subject: We had lunch a few months ago at Latte di Luna in Pienza. This was one of the better meals we ate in Tuscany. My pasta was a fettucine which was abolutely lavished with black truffles and cost about 12 Euro if I remember correctly. Months later I am still dreaming about this dish so for anyone headed in this direction, it is someplace to keep in mind.

Here is a site on the subject of truffles from one of the best importers to the USA:http://www.urbanitartufi.it/Negozio/Index.asp

A true kir is made with aligoté de bourgogne, a regional white wine--sometimes it can be found here at home. In France, often the sommelier will appear with the bottle of aligoté so you can see that the kir is being made properly.

The best known restaurant for an all truffle menu is at Clément Bruno's restaurant in Lorgues.
Chezz Bruno Rte de Vidauban.
At the Hospitaliers in Poet-Lavel, we had a wonderful truffle salad.

<<a recipe for prosciutto-wrapped asparagus with truffle butter on page 10>>
Ronda thank you. I found the recipe online and we have all the ingredients on hand... guess what I am making tonight!
BTW - Is it possible to find a wine that goes with asparagus?

Try a sancerre.

On our recent week in Paris in March, we ate dinner at Au Bon Accueil (sp?) in the 7th. We had a simple green salad with truffle oil vinagrette. I have been trying to find a recipe but on line. The ones that I can find all have some type of dijon mustard mixed in and the dressing we had in Paris did not.

Is it possible they just tossed the salad with truffle oil? It did not have a strong taste of vinegar, moreso just a light oil. Anyone have any good recipes or thoughts? I cant stop thinking about that salad...

Thanks for the explinations regarding Kir and Kir Royale. Sounds wonderful!!

I did have Italian white truffles once in Italy, in Rome actually, many years ago. I don't remember the cost, very expensive but worth every lira.

chic - I wouldn't toss a salad in truffle oil - pretty overpowering (and expensive). I collected vinaigrette recipes in France as we thought that the dressings were lovely and light. Everyone of them had mustard in them. A typical vinaigrette was
1 tsp mustard
egg white
soup spoon white vinegar(some variations on this)
3 soup spoons olive oil
s & p
Mix egg whites with mustard.
Beat.
Add vinegar and s & p.
Add oil and beat until thick.
Now I would add 1/2 tsp white truffle oil and try that. If you find you want a more intense truffle taste then try 3/4 tsp etc. (Remember to decrease the amount of olive oil by the amount of truffle oil you add). Don't worry about the mustard - it is necessary but you won't taste it.

robjame, my husband says:

Pinot Grigio Santa Margherita

Thanks robjame. I just finished dinner here and I made a vinagrette with dijon mustard and rosemary garlic olive oil. You are right - the mustard was not overpowering but added just enough punch. The flavor of the rosemary oil came out nicely.

Now I will try yours with the truffle oil. Thanks

If you google truffle oil vinaigrette you will come up with lots of recipies but here is one site that says: Splash a few drops on fresh, washed salad greens

http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/truffleoil.htm

He also says to buy (truffle oil) in small quantities, don't refrigerate, use within a couple of months; and

There is no way to just look at a truffle oil and predict the quality. Purchase from a reliable source and price will be the best indication of quality.

I couldn't find a web site for Au Bon Accuiel with a menu - menu descriptions often have big clues as to what is in the dish.

chic - you probably already know this, but remember that typical French recipes that call for egg or egg white are assuming a medium size egg. We tend to buy large or extra large eggs that throw off a recipe like this that is using very small quantities.

I discovered that Patricia Wells has a recipe for truffle oil in her Provence Cookbook. She uses minced truffle peelings and grapeseed oil)grapeseed oil has no real flavor). She says it allows the truffle to shine. My objection to the Trader Joe's truffle oil was that the flavor of the extra virgin olive oil overpowers almost any flavor of the white truffle (imho).

Whole Foods is out of truffle oil, and the two I found at Lunardi's were definitely more expensive and from Italy, but again, made with extra virgin olive oil so I didn't purchase either one. Next stop; Draeger's.

That makes sense about the olive oil.. I noticed the one I have in my frig that I bought in SW France (a few years ago so it is probably not great anymore) has a base of grapeseed oil. Maybe you will have to wait until your trip to stock up! I think I wrote this before but if not, see if you can find salt impregnated with truffles. I have a small jar imported from Italy that I bought here in NYC and it really imparts a wonderful aroma when I use in with eggs.

The site I listed above has the salt you refer to. It also says that it is best to buy the oil in small amounts,and use it within a couple of months once opened. Unopened, it will last 6 months up to 1 year, in a cool, dark cupboard or refrigerate.

I have almost decided that I should wait until I get to Provence to try or buy truffle oil as it is sort of spoiling the fun of trying new tastes for the first time. But at least I know what to look for and am educated a bit on the subject.

Ronda I am too embarrassed to tell you how long that grapeseed/truffle oil has been sitting in my fridge. I really never had an idea of how to use it..I know, drizzle it on salads..but the salads already had their dressing. I am sure mine is not very good anymore. On the same shelf is pistachio oil from J.LeBlanc....(that is a great place to shop for oil in Paris by the way.) But I do use the salt, as I wrote earlier. We should all just experiment..those flavors are haunting, for lack of a better word. Keep us posted on what you discover!

Ekscrunchy,

I had the same truffle fettucini at Late de Luna! Fabulous. I tried to duplicate it a home and came up short of course! I used some truffle "salsa" I bought in Gubbio.

I'm saving this thread. Yum, yum.