In Russia, few people use truffle oil. Its photo shows that it is a liquid product bottled. Many may have a question: how is it different from olive? Is it really possible to squeeze mushrooms and extract oil from them? Yes, the question is quite natural. Truffle, although a precious mushroom, does not contain fat. But it is very aromatic - for which it is valued by gourmets. In order to extract the aroma, truffles (Periguere black or Italian white) are filled with olive (sometimes grape seed) oil. And the liquid infused in this way absorbs the aroma of the mushroom. That's it, the seasoning is ready. In this article we will look at how to use truffle oil. However, to begin with, let’s say that the lion’s share of the product entering the market was not even close to the precious mushrooms. The modern food industry has long synthetically isolated the component 2,4-dithiapentane from truffles. It is this substance that causes such a unique taste of the mushroom. But sometimes you can buy oil infused with real truffles for a crazy price.
Salmon appetizer
In principle, this dish can be prepared from any fatty fish. Not only salmon, but also nelma or chum salmon are suitable. Cut two hundred and fifty grams of fish fillet into thin slices, preferably of the same size. Pour in the juice of half a lemon. Add truffle oil - two tablespoons. Sprinkle with a handful of mustard seeds. Mix with chopped green onions and dill. Cover the fish with a lid and leave for an hour and a half. This appetizer is usually served on slices of dried rye bread or on special fish trays.
This recipe uses (four pieces), but they can be replaced with regular large mushrooms. Cut one hundred and twenty grams of prosciutto into thin strips and grill until crispy. Let's leave it to cool. Tear arugula (two glasses) onto a plate with your fingers. Add six chopped celery stalks with leaves. Chop half a cool onion into half rings. Sprinkle the dish. Slice the mushrooms thinly and mix them with chopped parsley (two spoons). Sprinkle onions on top. Sprinkle everything with the juice of two lemons. Salt, pepper and mix gently. Drizzle truffle oil on top. Sprinkle the finished salad with crispy prosciutto. Don't stir any more and serve.
Soup
Let's move on to hot dishes that use truffle oil. Their recipes are numerous. After all, flavored oil can change the taste of the most ordinary dish, even boiled potatoes. So, based on chicken broth (six hundred milliliters) we cook soup. In a mixture of butter and vegetable oil, fry half of the chopped onion until transparent. We randomly cut two hundred and fifty grams of potatoes and celery root into small pieces. We put it all in the broth. We tie several sprigs of thyme with a thread and also put them in the soup. When the vegetables are soft, add a quarter cup of heavy cream to the pan. Bring the soup to a boil again, then add salt and pepper. At this stage, add two tablespoons of truffle oil. Remove the thyme by pulling the thread. Knead everything with an immersion blender. Serve garnished with fresh herbs and sprinkled with lemon juice.
Another salad
Despite the sophistication and exotic nature of the ingredients, preparing this dish is quite simple. But you need to do a few preparatory manipulations. First, you need to take the petals of one large rose (without the middle with the stamens) and fill them with ice water for an hour. This way the bitterness will disappear. And secondly, you need to marinate the vegetables. A little zucchini, the same amount of daikon (Chinese radish) should be poured with a teaspoon of sesame seeds and 70 milliliters of olive oil, 7 ml of soy sauce. It wouldn't hurt to add a pinch of basil to the marinade. So the vegetables should simmer for one and a half to two hours. Chop the carrots into strips. Place on a dish in layers: pickled vegetables, lolo rossa salad, carrots, rose petals. Salt the salad and sprinkle with black pepper. Pour truffle oil over the entire surface - about twenty grams.
Tagliatelle with cream sauce
Not only the French province of Perigueux, but also Italian Tuscany is famous for its valuable mushrooms. Therefore, there are many pasta recipes that use truffle oil. To prepare this dish, boil four hundred grams of tagliatelle pasta, which we call “nests,” until al dente. Now let's make the sauce. To do this, cut four hundred grams of beef (you can cut it into one and a half centimeter cubes), add salt, sprinkle with spices and fry in olive oil. Two hundred grams of butter (can be replaced with champignons) are chopped into medium pieces. Salt and pepper them in the same way and fry in another frying pan. Combine meat with mushrooms and pour four hundred milliliters of cream (no less than 20% fat). Boil the sauce over low heat until creamy. Place the tagliatelle in a colander to drain all the liquid. Then add the pasta to the boiling sauce. Season with four tablespoons of truffle oil.
Farfalla with porcini mushrooms
Finely chop one red onion and two cloves of garlic. Fry them for a while. When the onion and garlic become golden brown, add the porcini mushrooms (about three hundred grams), peeled and cut into small pieces. At this stage, you can already put a pan of water on the fire to cook the farfalla. We call these pasta “butterflies” and “bows”. There is probably no need to repeat that to prepare the pasta “correctly” you need to not only add salt to the boiling water, but also add a spoonful of vegetable oil to it. This way the pasta will not stick together and will be crumbly. It is not recommended to rinse real Italian pasta under running water. While the farfallas are cooking, add truffle (olive) oil. Transfer the drained pasta to the frying pan. Warm up in the sauce. After placing the finished dish on a plate, sprinkle everything with a handful of Parmesan cheese.
The specialty is not only pasta and pizza. Risotto is no less popular on the Apennine Peninsula. This is not Central Asian pilaf or Spanish paella. The rice in this dish is moderately fluffy, often seasoned with saffron and various vegetables. Mushrooms are also used. For the dish you need to take a special variety of rice - arborio (one glass). Place a mixture of butter and vegetable oils in a deep frying pan. When they are hot, add rice. And fry the grains until they become matte-transparent, like glass beads. Only then pour water or broth (two glasses). Cover the pan and leave to simmer over medium heat. Meanwhile, we clean five pieces of porcini mushrooms. We wash them and cut them into pieces into a frying pan. Let's wait until three-quarters of the liquid has evaporated. Only then pour in two tablespoons of white wine and add a pinch of saffron. Stir and cover again. Drizzle truffle oil over the dish when serving.
Steamed shrimp
For the dish, you first need to peel and boil four medium potatoes in salted water. We clean nine pieces of tiger shrimps without touching the tails. A clove of garlic, a pinch of marjoram and basil, on the tip of a knife, grind salt and three tablespoons of olive oil to form a paste. Put the shrimp there and leave them to marinate for about ten minutes. In the meantime, we will cook the potatoes. Let's express the water. Grind the potatoes into mashed potatoes and pour half a glass of milk. Season with three tablespoons. Warm the puree so that it does not cool down. Grease the steamer tray with vegetable fat. Let's add shrimp. In seven minutes they will be ready. Place the puree on a plate. Place shrimp on top. Pour in truffle oil (two tablespoons) and the juice remaining from cooking the seafood.
A product called “truffle oil” has appeared in our super-duper “premium” category markets, as they position themselves, for several years now. And he took his modest place on the shelves next to other delicacies. But today the product has made its way into some online stores and into cooking shows, where chefs prepare fashionable “mushroom cappuccino with truffle oil” using a regular siphon. What can I say, the product simply became popular among the people, and now you can easily buy it in a “wholesale” tent.
The question is, in fact, simple - what do the products in the photo have in common and is the distance between them so insurmountable?
Both are imitation, but of a slightly different kind than
The fashion for truffles has elevated them not only to the rank of a cult product, but also spawned an entire industry working on how to make this product “affordable” to expanding demand with a shrinking supply. A sort of “show-off business.”
On the bottles of the samples I bought, different things are written on how to understand them, and which of them speak at least a little about naturalness.
Option 1. Condiment based on extravergin olive oil bkb or condimento / aromatizzato a base di olio extra vergine di olive or huile d"olive vierge a la truffe
This oil costs 5-6 euros per 250 ml in Europe. In our stall at the market this happiness is sold for about the same price, but in supermarkets and online stores the price has already doubled and turns into 10-12 euros. What are we paying for in this case?
“Truffle-flavored seasoning based on extra virgin olive oil” only means that the olive oil in the bottle is most likely really “extra virgin”, but there was no truffle anywhere near the tank of this oil, even if this very truffle was in the bottle put it down.
But food chemists did a great job.
It is no secret that for all such crafts “truffle aromas identical to natural” or aroma al tartufo or even arôme naturel de truffe are used. All these beautiful words refer to organosulfur ethers or thiosulfides, reminiscent of the smell of stale garlic and previously used to odorize, for example, natural gas or some other harmful substance, in order to signal in time the danger of poisoning. Several of them are classified as food additives to imitate the smell of black or white truffle.
This means that the price of such a flavored oil depends on how expensive the concentrate the producers got hold of and how many fly in the ointment they poured into the barrel of oil. Which, of course, is also real art without any irony.
An oil-based "truffle concentrate" with an even more intense scent exists and is sold in smaller bottles. Its price also depends on the price of the flavor, but you just need to drop such a concentrate and everyone will be happy.
Option 2. Sometimes you can find the word “truffle extract” or “natural truffle extract” on bottles.
Again, you need to understand that an extract is also a product of food chemistry, but with one or another participation of a natural product. The price of such oil will already be from 60-80 euros per 100 ml or something like that and will partly depend on the type of truffle from which the extract is obtained.
You don’t need to think that winter black and white truffles are chopped to make oil with truffle extract. For this purpose there are cheaper truffles - summer ones. Their smell is much weaker than that of winter ones, but the yield is higher. But even from these truffles, only waste is used for processing into extract - scrap, small items, unsold fresh truffles. 
Such as in this seasoning made from porcini mushrooms, peperoncino and aromatic herbs. (black scales are truffle pieces).
Extracts are naturally produced from waste - scrap, trimmings, small non-commercial truffles and mixtures of different types of truffles. Before infusion, the truffles are crushed and dried, as a result of which they significantly lose their aroma, and after infusion, the oil is filtered. But the nature of the truffle smell is such that the best solvent for its components is not oils, but alcohols and ethers. Therefore, some manufacturers process the truffle crumbs with various types of solvents and then remove them to obtain the most complete extract and add it to the vegetable oil. Well, let it be olive.
It’s quite easy to tell if an oil is unnatural by its smell, even for an amateur like me. The smell of artificial truffle oil will be flat and one-dimensional, and if you overdo it with the concentrate, then downright chemical. In addition, all products containing natural truffle indicate its percentage and botanical type, which we will never see on artificial “truffle oil”.
And most importantly - shelf life. Of course, we can’t talk about any 2-year period, as it is written on the bottle. Maximum 3-6 months.
Of course, putting truffle oil and crab sticks on the same page, I may have exaggerated the colors a little, but unfortunately, at that moment I didn’t have something more suitable for the occasion at hand vanilla sugar, so the similarity would be almost one hundred percent, but not so striking. :)
And even the analogy with vanilla, vanilla extract and vanillin works worse here, since vanilla contains about 90% vanillin, and thioesters, which are responsible for the aroma of the most valuable types of truffles, about 60%.
The analogy with vanillin raises another question: since “truffle oil” is a completely legitimate independent product, should we make any “fie” to such substitutions?
As the washing powder advertisement says, if you can’t see the difference, why pay more?
What do you think?
Hello dear gourmets! Let's talk about "haute" cuisine. It is considered elitist, so not everyone will like it. Let's talk about truffle oil, which is made from the most expensive mushrooms.
Packaging: glass bottle with screw cap. The product is elite, which is why the bottle is small, only 125 ml.
The oil is light yellow in color with a green tint. There is sediment at the bottom, this is the truffle. When choosing an oil, you need to pay attention to the sediment, this is an indicator of quality. The sediment is proof that the oil contains truffles.
The base is, of course, olive oil.
Its 94%, and truffle 1%.
Grated truffles in oil, in the form of shavings.
Now let's gourmet.
I’ll say right away that when I tried it for the first time, the taste seemed rather unpleasant. I tried it in a store in Italy, they just poured butter on a piece of bread. In a salad, the taste of oil reveals itself in a completely different way.
The aroma of truffle oil is quite strong and not everyone will like it. The truffle has a very bright taste. Therefore, you only need to add a few drops to a salad or other dish. In this case, there is no need to add salt to the salad; the oil will balance the taste. It is best to add oil to vegetable salad; you can also add it to pasta. For example, Spaghetti Genoa style (). The taste is not as strong as the smell.
Truffles are dug out of the ground, so the taste contains notes of “chernozem”. There is also a hint of garlic. The taste of the oil is unusual, but interesting and pleasant.
Truffle oil will transform even a simple vegetable salad, making it royally exquisite.
Also, lovers of unusual tastes will like:
Blueberry muffin in the form of a chocolate bar ().
Chocolate with sea salt and almonds ().
Black truffle oil is a wonderful gourmet product that is used to season a wide variety of dishes. The delicately pungent taste of the oil turns ordinary food into a delicacy.
Truffles- These are very expensive and rare mushrooms. They grow underground next to the roots of some large trees. Although not all types of truffles are tasty, some of them are quite edible and are even considered a delicacy. They are so expensive that not everyone can afford to buy them. Black or white truffle oil is a great alternative to taste this miracle.
Black and white truffle oil. Which one is better?
Before comparing these two types of oil, you must first find out what types of truffles there are. There are several types of truffles. Black and white are the most common. The black truffle has dark-colored flesh, a diameter of 7 cm and a weight of about 100 g. The white truffle has cream-colored flesh. It is slightly larger, about 12 cm in diameter, and weighs up to 500 g. For consumption or for oil production, truffles should be collected in late autumn or even winter.
Black truffle oil is a vegetable oil, most often olive oil, with a strong black truffle aroma, while white truffle oil is the same, but with a white truffle aroma. Both oils have a rich, refined taste. The taste of black truffle oil is much stronger than white truffle oil, although the latter is much more expensive because white truffles are much less common in nature than black ones.
Use of truffle oil in cooking
The aroma of truffles is a cross between the smell of earth and mushrooms. There are two types of black truffle oil: real, in which olive oil is mixed with real mushrooms, and artificial, in which artificial flavors are added to the olive oil. The second option is much more common, and it costs less. It has a stronger aroma, so it must be added to dishes in smaller quantities than real truffle oil.
Truffle oil has a very interesting taste and aroma that enhances every dish. Whether it's salads, soup, sauce or gravy, they all become special with the addition of oil. It is not recommended to heat truffle oil, because it loses its mild, unusual taste. For the same reason, it should be added to dishes only after they are fully cooked.
Below are several recipes using truffle oil.
Asparagus with truffle oil dressing
Products:
Black truffle oil – 1 tbsp. l.
Extra virgin olive oil – 1.5 tbsp. l.
Sparkling wine vinegar – 1 tbsp. l.
Freshly squeezed lime juice – 1/4 tsp.
Sea salt – 1/2 tsp.
A pinch of freshly ground black pepper
Asparagus stalks, 900 g, rinsed and trimmed off tough parts of the stalks
Preparation:
For the salad dressing, whisk together the olive oil, black truffle oil, lime juice, salt and pepper in a bowl. Set aside. Pour enough hot water into the pan to blanch the asparagus. To improve the taste, add a little salt to the water. Soak the asparagus in hot water for 3-4 minutes. Drain the water and leave the asparagus in the pan. Add dressing, mix and serve on plates.
Mushroom sauce for pasta
Products:
Any pasta
Butter – 2 tbsp. l.
Garlic – 2 cloves, chopped or crushed
Shallot – 1 piece, finely chopped
Mushrooms – 450 g, chopped
Thyme – 2 sprigs: finely chop both leaves and stems
Red wine – 1/4 tbsp.
Cream – 1 tbsp.
Truffle oil – 2 tbsp. l.
Parsley – 5 sprigs (pluck leaves and chop coarsely)
Preparation:
Cook the pasta and set aside. Heat a thick frying pan over medium heat and melt the butter. Sauté the garlic and shallots for 2-3 minutes. Add mushrooms and thyme. Cook, stirring, until the mushrooms are soft. Add wine and reduce heat. Add the cream and cook for another 5-6 minutes until the consistency of a thick sauce is obtained. Remove the sauce from the heat and add the black truffle oil.
Place pasta on a plate, add mushroom sauce on top, and garnish with parsley. Serve immediately.
To make the dish tasty, you need to add a very small amount of truffle oil to it. There is absolutely no need for a large amount of it. If you use it sparingly, you will be able to enjoy its magical taste for a long time.
Surely each of us is familiar, at least by hearsay, with the delicious edible truffle mushroom, which has underground tuberous fruit-like fleshy bodies with a pronounced mushroom taste, fantastic notes of well-roasted seeds and aromatic walnuts.
Dishes made from this mushroom are highly valued by gourmets and have a strong spicy aroma, and if you hold the truffle in water, it acquires the characteristic taste of soy sauce. These mushrooms, the yield of which in the world is only 50 tons per year and is constantly declining, are among the most expensive seasonal products used to prepare delicacies.
The main suppliers of truffles are France, Spain, Australia, Great Britain, USA, and New Zealand. At the beginning of the 21st century, China became the largest producer of truffles on a global scale, but experts say that the Chinese product is much inferior, for example, to the French one in terms of taste.
Due to the high price, not everyone can afford to enjoy the amazing taste of mushrooms, so in recent years, chefs all over the world have begun to use truffle oil as an exquisite seasoning for their favorite food, giving that same luxurious taste and unforgettable aroma of real mushrooms.
What kind of product is this and what is it made from, are there any additional flavorings in the oil, and are the few mushroom pieces floating in the bottle capable of providing such a rich taste? After all, the price difference between the truffles themselves and the product called “truffle oil” is simply huge.
Production technology – real or artificial?
But flavoring any other vegetable oil, in particular olive or refined sunflower, is a completely standard procedure, especially with the use of modern technologies used in food production. But in order for the spruce to acquire the rich taste and aroma of truffle, the addition of at least 10% mushrooms is required, and this is incredibly expensive on an industrial scale.
Therefore, in most cases, experts say, manufacturers prepare truffle oil using synthetic aromatic additives that are added to regular olive oil. Scientists were able to isolate and synthesize the aromatic component present in the mushroom and giving it a special specific aroma, in particular, we are talking about the 2,4-dithiapentane component.
A minority of manufacturers producing expensive types of oils use not only synthetic fragrances in the production of oils, but also real truffles or the raw materials remaining after their processing. However, it is very difficult to ensure the full taste of a natural product, even with the use of modern technologies, because the multifaceted aroma of real mushrooms is provided by more than forty chemical compounds.
Synthesized substitutes are added to the oil in quantities of 3 to 5, so the taste of the oil is not as rich as compared to natural raw materials. A small amount of mushroom slices, present in the oil solely for beauty, is not enough to fully flavor the vegetable oil.
What are the benefits of truffle oil?
Based on the above, we can conclude: truffle oil has the same beneficial properties as the oil on the basis of which it is made:
- provides the body with easily digestible fats and healthy fatty acids;
- is a source of many vitamins, in particular tocopherols (vitamin E), which belong to the class of powerful antioxidants and substances responsible for youth and beauty;
- protects cells from damage by free radicals;
- improves liver condition;
- normalizes cholesterol metabolism, reducing the level of low-density lipoproteins (dangerous cholesterol) in the blood plasma;
- normalizes fat metabolism processes;
- improves the condition of the skin, hair and nail plates;
- is a source of mineral salts and rare trace elements, without which all physiological processes in the human body are impossible.
Like all vegetable fats, truffle oil has a high calorie content - 898 kcal per 100 grams. Nutritionists do not recommend consuming more than 50 g of oil per day for healthy adults leading an active lifestyle. For everyone else, 1-2 tablespoons of vegetable oil per day is enough to provide the body with fat-soluble vitamins and PUFAs.
Now, to enjoy the taste of truffles, you don’t have to go to a French restaurant and pay a lot of money for a tiny portion of mushrooms. Truffle oil, which is sold in any large supermarket or distributed through online stores, has found many uses in cooking as an all-purpose seasoning.
Due to the fact that the product is available all year round, unlike seasonal mushrooms, as well as the low price compared to natural truffles, each of us has the opportunity to add exquisite flavor notes and an indescribable aroma to our favorite dishes. Oil can be used to fry meat and fish, vegetables and mushrooms, add it to sauces, dressings and gravies, soups and fish soup, and use it for all types of pickling.
The product is used to season any products made from meat, fish, seafood, cereals, rice, eggs, flour, and vegetables. Try making risotto, pasta, stuffed eggs, seaweed, vegetable stew, vinaigrette, Olivier salad, vitamin salad of fresh vegetables and herbs with truffle flavor. To add luxury and elegance to food, just add a little truffle oil to the dishes served.
Summing up
As you can see, the small amount of natural mushrooms that some manufacturers add is not enough for truffle oil to acquire additional beneficial properties. Therefore, it is not advisable to use it for cosmetic, medical and aromatherapy purposes, because the price is several times higher than, for example, valuable sesame, peach or walnut.
But to enrich the taste of your favorite dishes and add variety to your usual menu, all nutritionists recommend using truffle oil. Now you know what this exotic product is - truffle oil, the benefits and harms of which are determined by the base (olive or sunflower oil). Good luck with your culinary experiments!
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