TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

The Trouble With Truffles

Photo by Michelle Baker

Black truffle oil adds a decadent twist to stone-ground cheese grits with poached egg.

ADVERTISEMENT

By GREG and MICHELLE BAKER

Tribune correspondents

Published: March 27, 2009

Everyone has an addiction of some shape or form. Whether it's single malt scotch or rum raisin ice cream, chocolate cake or collecting Beanie Babies, we all have one.

Some addictions are a little less expensive than others. For instance, our friend who has a somewhat unhealthy addiction to collecting 1960s tumbler glasses usually gets a fix for around $5 on any given Saturday. Another friend, who has an addiction to grouper fishing, must reach deep inside his pocket for $160 every time he wants to head out into the Gulf for a quick fish fix.

The lucky few have free addictions, like Twitter Heads and Facebook Freaks. The Sherpas? We go for the glory.

Truffles.

Not the chocolate truffle, but the real deal. The musky, pungent, black-and-white beauties found in very specific corners of the world and only found by trained sniffing animals, such as dogs and pigs. Retail value is normally about $120 a pound, but that's the low end. Top-notch, premium-grown truffles will set you back anywhere from $400 to $1,400 a pound.

So when we got an e-mail asking whether we would be interested in attending the first National Truffle Festival, we couldn't hit reply fast enough.

While at the festival, we spoke with Betty Garland of Garland Truffles, who raises North Carolina black Perigord truffles, aka Black Diamonds. We thought we were passionate about truffles. Please. Betty's husband; Franklin, has spent more than 25 years cultivating the North American truffle through trial and error. European truffle farmers aren't giving up their centuries-old secrets, but Franklin Garland figured it out, and he is now considered the leader of the U.S. truffle industry.

With a decadently expensive habit like truffles, one must become very resourceful. But there are more affordable truffle options, including truffle oil. There are many places to buy truffle oil here in the Tampa Bay area. Castellano & Pizzo Italian Gourmet Foods sells (in our opinion) the best affordable truffle oil, Roland. It usually retails for $12 to $14 a bottle.

If you have never tried truffles before, we highly recommend it. The flavor is indescribable, and you either love it or you hate it. Just be careful, people have lost fortunes on their addictions, and this one can hit you hard.

STONE-GROUND CHEESE GRITS WITH POACHED EGG AND BLACK TRUFFLE

(or Not So White Trash Truffle Risotto)

Serves 5

1 quart heavy cream

2 cups stone-ground grits

5 cups chicken stock

1 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated, plus more for shaving, if desired

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon ground white pepper

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

5 large eggs

2 tablespoons black truffle oil

For the grits:

Bring the heavy cream to a boil on the stovetop. Stir in the grits and simmer, until thick, about 5 minutes. Add 2 cups of the chicken stock and simmer again, stirring frequently until they thicken again, about another 5 minutes. Add two more cups of the stock and stir well. Remove from the heat and add the Pecorino Romano, salt, pepper and 1 more cup of stock, stir well, and hold for serving.

For the eggs:

Fill a shallow frying pan with water and bring it to a boil. Add the white wine vinegar and lower the heat to where the pan is no longer boiling (2 or 3 on an electric stove). Add the eggs individually and cook for 2 minutes for a soft egg, 3 minutes for a firmer egg.

Plate the grits, top each pile of grits with an egg, top with shaved Pecorino Romano, (if desired) and pour a few drops of the truffle oil over each plate to finish.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT