Community service announcement...."86" your truffle oil, please.

nolaegghead

http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/04/rant-enough-with-the-truffle-oil-already.html

allitnils

Hehe, I'm only guessing this might be directed to my recent use of the stuff.
I find that, if used sparingly, the truffle oil I buy is delicious and gives my dishes a pungent truffle taste, yes, at a fraction of the cost.
It's not meant to replace the real thing, but it can give you a hint of truffles as you eat a mild tasting dish.
Don't understand why the article suggests it tastes artificial though: truffle oil (at least the one I buy), is olive oil with whole chunks of truffles infusing it at the bottom of the bottle. Nothing artificial about it..

nolaegghead

I read your last two dinner posts and I thought your menus were restaurant quality, and you have quite good taste.  With the exception of the truffle oil, I thought.  However, if it's real, and tasty, and if you like it, no problem there.

However, I've seen other references to it in the forums.  The vast majority of the truffle oil out there is not flavored by truffles, but concocted by a purfumier and fortified with 2,4-Dithiapentane.  The fake stuff is frowned upon by the professional cooking community, and I think most people don't know it's fake, I know I didn't when I first and last bought some. 

Lastly, they've been in the news.  http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7413524n&tag=contentBody;storyMediaBox

allitnils

I read your last two dinner posts and I thought your menus were restaurant quality, and you have quite good taste.  With the exception of the truffle oil, I thought.  However, if it's real, and tasty, and if you like it, no problem there.

However, I've seen other references to it in the forums.  The vast majority of the truffle oil out there is not flavored by truffles, but concocted by a purfumier and fortified with 2,4-Dithiapentane.  The fake stuff is frowned upon by the professional cooking community, and I think most people don't know it's fake, I know I didn't when I first and last bought some. 

Lastly, they've been in the news.  http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7413524n&tag=contentBody;storyMediaBox

Hardly restaurant quality, but I appreciate the compliment.

I've never tasted the "fake" truffle oil (that I know of), but have eaten real truffles many times both in restaurants and at home (though at $180 per 30 grams, it's not something that I generally keep in my larder..), and while the oil does not, in fact, compare to the characteristics of real truffles, I don't believe it is supposed to. It gives it the undertones of the truffles' tastes; an earthy palate that kind of hints of the real flavours..

There's a place in Oregon that does truffle oils with no chemicals:

http://www.oregontruffleoil.com/node/11

I've never tried that one, but the ones we get in Australia add a nice touch.

As an aside and apropos, I find it interesting how some complain about the chemicals added to replicate the taste of truffles in a subtle and delicate oil, yet encrust their ribs in highly salted and sugary rubs.. 

I guess in the end of the day it's just a matter of opinion.

nolaegghead

As a chemist, I'm amused how there's a politically correct camp that's convinced everything natural is good, and anything artificial is bad.  From my perspective everything we eat are composed of chemicals, and there are plenty of unhealthy chemicals ubiquitous to many commonly consumed foods, and many healthy food additives.

That said, and with risk of sounding hypocritical and haughty, most people have never had truffles in their lives, and the truffle oils sold bereft of truffles don't do truffles any justice at all, and should be avoided lest they give those unlucky enough to consume it a chance to dislike real truffles. 

The synthetic truffle oil is to truffles as lemon coolaid is to lemons.

Elde

The fake stuff is frowned upon by the professional cooking community

A lot of what we do at home is frowned on by the professional cooking community. I don't let it bother me.

Rich_ie

I dont have any and never have. 

xraypat23

every time I've ever had anything with truffle/truffle oil in it, all I taste is truffles. Ruins a dish in my opinion.

stike

As long as we're getting snobby, please tear the crappy vinyl siding off of your houses too. It's cheap, looks nothing like the real stuff, and is made from chemicals.

You're either on board with philosophy, or just cherry picking when it suits you.

Griffin

Never had truffles or truffle oil, but I like Ruffles....does that count?

Nolaegghead - I didn't know you were a chemist. What do you do? I work at a water treatment plant and run ICP-MS (metal analysis)

Austin Egghead

Better eating thru chemistry..  Y'all would be surprised how much we eat can be/is chemically reproduced.  Griffin, do you have HPLC and LCMS and GC's in you lab? 

Griffin

I know we have GCs, but I'm in charge of running the ICP-MS. It's a 7500 by Agilent.

nolaegghead

Never had truffles or truffle oil, but I like Ruffles....does that count?

Nolaegghead - I didn't know you were a chemist. What do you do? I work at a water treatment plant and run ICP-MS (metal analysis)

I've run GFAAS, ICP, HPLC, GC (FID, PID, ELCD, ELCD, NPD), and a bunch of other instruments.  Haven't been on the bench in years.  I'm a software engineer now for a big environmental analytical lab network,  so I'm they guy that programs the LIMS (laboratory information management system).

MrCookingNurse

All I know is the Chopped judges hate truffle oil.

Griffin

Cool. I hate our LIMs. Had been nothing but trouble since we started it over 2 years ago. Still trying to work the bugs out.

bettysnephew

A lot of what we do at home is frowned on by the professional cooking community. I don't let it bother me.

I was watching one of the shows on TV this weekend while my smoked meatloaf was on the BGE and several chefs were featured that were "creating" dishes that looked like three blades of grass on top of a 1" cube of Jello.  It was more of a visual thing than eating/tasting.  I guess if I chose that, I would rather have a painting or photograph to hang on the wall so I could remember it longer than the four very small bites that their "meal" comprised.  Just to note, I also don't have much time for the Adam Richman type promotion of gluttony on the tube.

nolaegghead

Everyone everywhere hates their LIMS.  Then they get sentimental about the "good ol' days" when they get a new LIMS...
)

We have a vended system - I've re-written certain functionality - customized it for us.  Also, I do the Oracle PL/SQL development for our web portal - customers can get data, reports, run EDDs, get notifications, do historical data mining, etc. through their account to our web portal.

ShedFarm

All I know is the Chopped judges hate truffle oil.

LOL ... I was thinking the same thing.  >-

nolaegghead

All I know is the Chopped judges hate truffle oil.

LOL ... I was thinking the same thing.  >-

You got that right!

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dailydish/2011/06/chef-gordon-ramsay-on-the-one-ingredient-you-should-not-have-in-your-pantry.html

allitnils

All I know is the Chopped judges hate truffle oil.

LOL ... I was thinking the same thing.  >-

You got that right!

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dailydish/2011/06/chef-gordon-ramsay-on-the-one-ingredient-you-should-not-have-in-your-pantry.html

Interesting - I'm surprised that given their hatred for it, masterchef contestants even have the choice of having truffle oil to begin with.

Then again, I wonder what chef Ramsay would think about Dizzy's pig rub.....

It's all about perspective. Gordon Ramsay is possibly in the top three of my favorite chefs and I follow his advice religiously, but will not stop using something he frowns upon if I like the taste of it.

Yes, I'm a food snob. If I'm going to go through the trouble of cooking something, I'm going to make it as best as I can.

Similarly, if I'm going to spend $200 at a restaurant, I want it to taste and look amazing.

I don't have a problem eating chemicals - in fact, one of the favorite dishes I make is grilled peaches with runny yogurt after having gone through the process of spherification.

As it is, I like the truffle oil I got and will use it accordingly.

Just like people around here like all those rubs and use them accordingly.

If I were to work at a restaurant, I would cook differently to what I do at home. 

For what its worth, I was pleased with the results of both my slow cooked lamb shoulder, and my crispy skin rock cod, both which were splashed liberally with truffle oil..

nolaegghead

If it tastes good, go with it.  The truffle oil I bought tasted and smelled like one of the samples we get in at our lab from the chemical companies up the Mississippi.  We bought it from World Market.  

I was thinking about the Master Chef pantry...do they put stuff in there just to screw with the contestants?  Heck yeah.  I used to put MSG in half the stuff I cooked.  In my opinion, it's delicious.  (an aside, my theory is we developed a taste for it long ago when we became more agrarian and started farming grains).  Anyway, had to stop because my wife has a food allergy to it.  MSG is a pariah chemical, but, damn.  It's delicious.

I'm a foodie, and I'm lucky to live in one of the best cities in the world for food (New Orleans, bitches!).  And boy, do we drop some money on food.  That said, it was rather pompous of me to start this thread, I hate to act like a snob.  In my defense, I was nothing close to sober at the time.  Your posts are great, keep 'em up!

nolaegghead

Oh, and I polished off a jar of Marmite in two months without using any bread.  How cave-man of me!

KingRover

Where in Nola do you live? I spent three years in the Warehouse District (with a short Katrina break thrown in there. Definitely lots of places to drop money on (great and not so great).
Favorite dinner was tasting menu at Restaurant August.

nolaegghead

John Besh!  Yeah, I've eaten at most of his restaurants....  We live in Algiers Point.  Walking distance to the Canal Street ferry.  Spent Katrina riding it out at Touro hospital.  Crazy, crazy times....

Where in Nola do you live? I spent three years in the Warehouse District (with a short Katrina break thrown in there. Definitely lots of places to drop money on (great and not so great).
Favorite dinner was tasting menu at Restaurant August.

stike

not starting trouble here, nola.  just offering an interesting thing to think about re: msg...

glutamate is found naturally occurring in many foods, which seem to cause no problem for those who seem to experience issues with it when it is a known ingredient in foods.  meaning?: they don't seem to suffer if they don't know it's in the food.

and to date, there's' no reputable study that shows any true allergy or issue with msg.  all evidence is supporting allergies and adverse reaction is anecdotal.

not that i recommend you passing that info along to your wife )

nolaegghead

Stike, I was in that camp for years.  Glutamate is a natural amino acid (glutamic acid).  When I'd add it to dinner, Bridget would experience anxiety and a racing metabolism.  I wouldn't call it an allergy, but a reaction to it.  I wouldn't tell her when I used it, but she'd complain about the same symptoms.  Finally, we put it together and I stopped using it as a seasoning.  

stike

does she have the same reaction to foods where it occurs naturally?
i think shrooms are high in it, for example.  fish sauce too.  stuff like that

Elde

does she have the same reaction to foods where it occurs naturally?
i think shrooms are high in it, for example.  fish sauce too.  stuff like that

Those foods generally have levels of MSG far, far lower than what you'd get by adding it to a dish.  This means the level of reaction is also far lower, and may not be detectable at all.  Or, as a friend of mine with a mild allergy to ginger puts it, "just because I can barely feel a BB dropped on my head doesn't mean it's safe to do so with a bowling ball".

stike

i don't think "far lower" is accurate.  but i'm not a researcher, just asking questions,.

Ranger908

Damn I was having such a good time just throwing some meat on the egg, coating it with about anything and eating it. Now I have to worry about every letter in the world.

michigan_jason

Damn I was having such a good time just throwing some meat on the egg, coating it with about anything and eating it. Now I have to worry about every letter in the world.

+1