I received this product to review from OGourmet, which is a Canadian company dealing in fine food products from around the world.
I chose a jar of Extra Fine Black Summer Truffles as I'd never cooked with truffles, and only had dishes with truffle oil in the past.The "Tuber Aestivum" whole black summer truffles, is part of a line of truffle-inspired products imported from Viani & Co. Not knowing what to do with the little jar of black summer truffles, it sat for a while in our cupboard, until the other day, when I decided, that for New Year's Eve, I would make an attempt to cook with it.The Gilded Fork proved helpful in my task whilst Googling recipes using black summer truffles. However, by not having as much time as required in the recipe (fresh truffles, soaked in olive oil for a few hours), I made my own modifications to The Gilded Fork's recipe, here for only a small portion of pasta, as follows:
Ingredients:
1 black summer truffle
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Small portion of pasta for two
2 cloves garlic, minced
Prep:
Chop truffle
Chop garlic
Pour olive oil into chopped truffle
Gently cook the garlic until softened. Do not burn the garlic. Remove from the heat and add the truffles with the rest of the olive oil.
[Chef’s Note: It is important that truffles never be “cooked”, but just gently warmed, so as not to destroy their delicate flavor.]
When the pasta is cooked, drain and add to the truffle and olive oil along with a splash of the cooking water, and gently reheat over very low heat. After trying the dish, neither of us could taste the truffles; individually they didn't seem to have any stand-alone flavour.
As I said, I tailored the recipe to just a small portion of pasta, enough for two bowls. The rest of the pasta I served with an easy sauce using Morningstar's Veggie Meatballs, which are delish and really have a meaty texture.
So, I ask, what did I do wrong with the truffles and do you have any tips or recipes on how to cook with black summer truffles?
