Truffle Oils Taste Test

Lately truffle oils have gotten a bad rap. I've read articles and interviews from Chefs that most of them do not contain truffles and they only have the truffle flavor. But I do not go by what they necessarily contain. I go by my taste buds and what pleases me. It's like buying the real Prada or getting a knock off. I buy a purse if I like the looks and feel of it, not because it's a Prada. If it happens to be a Prada and I can afford it at the time, then I buy it.

Yesterday, Mertz brought 3 Truffle Oils which we tasted on Burrata cheese. The brand name was Truffle Hunter. We had the Black Truffle Oil, White Truffle, and English Truffle. The black and white truffle was made with extra virgin olive oil with some truffle shavings and the English was made with rapeseed oil. Rapeseed for your information is a plant from the mustard family. We all found that the best truffle oil was the Black one. The white had a lot less flavor and the English had almost no flavor at all.

When I got home, I looked at my truffle oil which I like very much. The brand is Olivier from Napa Valley. White truffles from France are slowly steeped in extra virgin olive oil. There are no truffle particles yet it has a very distinct truffle taste which is just beautiful poured on some nice burrata cheese. What's interesting is I did not get this truffle oil at a specialty gourmet store, I got it at Home Goods for $12.99.

The next time you try truffle oil on burrata with a bit of truffle salt, savor the oil and if it speaks to you, make it your friend. However if it mute then forget about it as not all truffle oils are created equal.