"truffles" news and stories

How much is a black truffle worth? At $30 an ounce, a slim shaving can make decadent a dish as simple as scrambled eggs or plain old linguine. Right about now, a kilo of the fungi that looks like coal could soon land a muck-digger a cold 800 Euros at France's biggest market, Richerenches -- that's more than $1,000, twice what it was worth a decade ago. But word is that stocks are low and prices are inching ever higher. And to one Frenchman, a good truffle is worth a life.

Just before Christmas, farmer Laurent Rambaud was charged with shooting down a would-be truffle thief. "Black diamond" bandits are so often expected that one hunter sleeps with a rifle across his legs and another considered implanting GPS chips into his stock, reports the Global Post. The paper notes that climate affects truffle accessibility (ideal conditions call for light summer rains), as does construction, which "paves over rare hunting grounds." And "few young people take the time to learn the skills of unearthing truffles."

The trick is getting a good pig or canine to sniff out the goods from underneath oak trees as they mature from November to March, but it can take time to properly train your sniffers and longer to find the right oaks. And so goes high-class pick-pocketing. But, ye have been warned.

How do you know if the economy is already on the upswing for 2011? Forget retail sales. Take a look at the Truffle Meter. And, baby, it's on its way up, up, and away. First, renowned pastry chef François Payard has created a Black Truffle Chocolate Tart for New Year's Eve that serves eight and retails for $85 (only 25 of the limited-edition confections are available through his FPB bakery in Soho, though. Call 212-995-0888, Ext. 131, or order online).

Meanwhile, in L.A, you can sign up for Patina Restaurant's Truffle Dinner Series (Wednesday and Thursday, January 11 and 12), in order to be the first on the West Coast to sample the season's finest black truffles just flown in from France, the truffle and pâté capital of the world. Depending on how flush you're feeling about next year, go for seven courses at $175, five courses at $135, or a mere three at the reasonable price of $95 (recommended for anyone whose year-end bonus didn't come through). But wait! Even if you're being evicted as you read this, you can still enter Patina's contest to win a dinner for two to the January 11 event. No word yet on whether Mildred's restaurant in Pasadena is shaving truffles over the pot roast this year, but we do hear that they're giving out free autographed pix of Eve Arden with the purchase of a bowl of cream-of-mushroom soup.

New York City's Serendipity 3 restaurant has a history of doing stunts to make the Guinness World Records. They've scored twice before -- with the World's Most Expensive Ice Cream Sundae and the World's Largest Hot Chocolate -- and on Friday, they did it again with the World's Most Expensive Hot Dog, which will sell for $69.

So how do you get a hot dog to cost nearly 70 bucks? First, you start with a regular Serendipity 3 foot-long beef hot dog, which already sells for $8.50 -- a little more than your average street dog in New York (and a lot tastier, I'll admit). Then you use the tried and true pre-recession stunt of chefs around the world: Add foie gras, then add truffles, repeat as necessary until the price tag explodes. (The other surefire fancifier -- caviar -- would taste a little gross on a hot dog, though Serendipity 3 puts it on a burger.)

To be more specific, this particular "Haute Dog" (as it's being marketed) is grilled in white truffle oil and is served on a chewy pretzel-bread bun (sort of like a cross between a soft pretzel and a baguette) that's toasted with white truffle butter. It's topped with foie gras pâté with black truffles. Condiments (served on the side) include Dijon mustard with black truffles, caramelized Vidalia onions and ketchup made with heirloom tomatoes (more like a tart tomato relish).

I tasted the dog this morning (breakfast of champions), and I've gotta admit, it was darn tasty. My notes, after the jump.

We all know what to expect from a visit to Denny's: a stack of pretty good pancakes, maybe even a Grand Slam breakfast if the mood strikes. Japan has a Denny's too, but instead of sausage links and hash browns, they're serving up a bizarre hybrid menu that offers up everything from ramen noodles to French classics.

It's not totally out of left field -- after all, Japan has a penchant for giving even the most mundane food a twist. But making the leap from fried eggs to a "special truffle menu," well, that's quite a departure. According to Eater, "the newest item on offer is Beef Rossini style with liver pie, a dish of New Zealand Beef topped with foie gras and sliced truffles, served with a red wine demi-glace reduction."

Though you've likely never heard of it, it's a French standard. At 1380 yen, or $15, it's fairly affordable, yet...do you really want to eat demi-glace in a booth at Denny's?

Bethany Thouin came to Nashville for the music, but stayed for the chocolate. Tired of struggling as a songwriter, the self-taught chocolatier -- she says she went to pastry school at Google University -- decided to dive headfirst into the world of confectionery arts. The mother of five opened her shop, The Cocoa Tree, in Nashville's historic Germantown district, and at first struggled to balance family and food, business and the home front. Seven years later, she's obviously got the hang of it; she's a burgeoning culinary celebrity with the awards, press clippings, television appearances, celebrity clientele and her own book to prove it.

Read on about Bethany's sweet life at the The Cocoa Tree after the jump.