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The most cost-effective way to get a lot of truffle for a little money is to buy truffle oil, which is basically olive oil infused with truffle flavor...

And, keep in mind that oregon truffles (while having a lot less flavor) are proportionally less expensive.

I've had them a few times. It's really, really hard to describe the flavor. To me, they just taste like the earth. Not dirt, not soil, but the earth. It's the only thing I can come up with. They truly are, at least to me, indescribably delicious. Most truffle oils don't do them justice. that said, D'Artagnan makes a pretty decent one, which is ridiculously good drizzled on mashed potatoes or rice. Just a drizzle.

The best meal I may ...have ever eaten may have been a simple French omlete served with shaved fresh truffle at the restaurant La Beaugraviere in Mondragon, in southern France. Au pays de la Truffe(www.beaugraviere.com) The wine was from Gigondias, Domaine Les Palliets (?) I remember everything about that lunch with complete clarity, including the other diners how the waiter poured, as to taste something that devine will leave you in a transformed state....I am fortunate to eat many wonderful meals, but this is an sensory experience, its not about food artistry. It is a experience you must pursue if you are serious about food. I live in Oregon and cook with the Oregon truffles,(even just tonight grated on shrimp fra diavolo) we are extremely proud of them whether they will truely compete with the wild truffles of southern France, will be debated and tested for decades. You must try them and tell us what you think...

Truffles are one of those food mysteries where no one can really explain what they taste like so we all want to find it for ourselves, but huzzah, they cost a fortune. I'm totally a member of this sucker camp.

Hillary
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