Truffles

[Diana]

This weekend I bought a small jar of truffles as a treat and to experience this much sort after delicacy for the first time. I followed an Elizabeth David recipe to make an omelette. We opened the jar with much excitement and expected to smell something quite distinct, quite what I am not sure but expected it to be a surprise. Well they smelt of nothing, the recipe said to shave them into the eggs several hours before cooking to let the flavour infuse into the omelette. I did all this and make a good omelette with the best fresh eggs but still no taste or smell. The omelette was fine but all it tasted of was egg. Does anyone know what went wrong and in future how not to be sold a dud.

 

Diana

 

Ps I bought them in Auchan in Cherbourg from on of those independent small stalls that are in the supermarket, not the concourse outside.

[graham34]

One of the problems with truffles is that there are several varieties and most of them have no, or very little, taste and smell. You can add to this that preserving them in a jar (it must amount to pickling them) takes away much of any flavour they started with.

With the real thing the omelette will have a smell of heady mushrooms.

Unless you come across a fresh truffle, probably the best way to appreciate them is in a quality restaurant. 10+ years ago (when I last indulged) it was barely affordable and since then truffle inflation has well outstripped even euro inflation.

Graham