Don’t get me wrong — I like truffle. I’m not above inhaling a basket of truffle fries or indulging in a rich truffle pasta. But lately, truffle has gone rogue, infiltrating every corner of the dining scene with reckless abandon.
“Truffles and truffle products have become a mainstream ingredient. These days, you can find them in almost any grocery store with a specialty or fine foods section,” says Chef Pawan Pinisetti, executive chef of Sérêvène in Miami. “From 2000 to 2015, you mostly saw them in highly distinguished dining establishments and, at best, in higher-end markets like New York , San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas .
Now, they’re everywhere.” 🍄 So, what's the deal? Not all truffles are created equal. Consider the three tiers of truffle-dom .
Real truffles have even inspired an entire underground crime syndicate. It sounds fake, but here we are — CNN even covered it . Schwartz reminds us, “Like any good ingredient, it’s all about quality.
There are some amazing truffles: Périgord black truffles, white truffles from Alba, and summer truffles. And if you have a good guy spending time sourcing, trust your source. There are also really bad quality truffles, especially with the saturation and popularity; a lot of truffles get watered down.
If you want great truffles, it’s pricier, but you get what you pay for.” Much like your weed guy, you gotta know your truffle guy. 🍄 The point is.
.. Because of its reputation, truf.