The Elusive Truffle

Paul has had a lifelong dream to eat fresh truffles in season, in Italy.  Not a bad dream.  But going to Italy in truffle season is a bit of a stretch for us.  We like going places but would really rather stay home most of the time.  Then we read about Oregon truffles.  It turns out that Oregon truffles are a unique culinary experience in their own right.  So we set out to try them.  Last February we went to Dayton, Oregon to the Joel Palmer House restaurant.  They are famous for foraging and preparing wild mushrooms.  Unfortunately for us, February is the end...or past the end...of truffle season and we didn't get to eat any.  We did have a wonderful meal, just no truffles.  Not being ones to give up easily, we did a little more research and found that the height of truffle season is right around Christmas time.  So, this year, when we went to visit the family in Oregon, we made a reservation to go back to the Joel Palmer House and try again.  We were not disappointed this time.  We had thinly shaved white truffles on nearly every dish we ordered.  They tasted amazing...as did the bottle of Aramenta Cellars Pinot Noir we had with dinner.  In fact we liked the wine so much, Paul went to the winery the next day and bought four more bottles!

Now we were hooked on Oregon truffles and decided to take things a step further by ordering four ounces of fresh white truffles from Oregon Wild Edibles in Eugene.  Once we made the commitment, we had to plan a truffle-centric dinner timed for when the ripe truffles would arrive.  We lined up a couple of mushroom loving friends and starting planning.  We ended up making a fairly simple risotto with sliced truffle infused chicken broth.  We also covered the risotto with more thinly sliced truffles.  We served it alongside a simple salad of baby greens and homemade sourdough and another bottle of Aramenta Cellars Pinot.  There was Chocolate Obsession for dessert. Needless to say, the dinner was a big hit and we all had our fill of truffles.  In fact, we were so anxious to taste them that we forgot to take a picture!

Four ounces of truffles is actually quite a bit so we minced most of the rest of the truffles and mixed them into softened butter.  This is supposed to be a good way to keep the truffle experience alive for more than the few days they are at their peak.  We created 6 "truffle butter bombs" and stuck them in the freezer.

However, being the food sluts that we are, Paul and I saved a couple of the truffles for the next night.  We fixed angel hair pasta and threw one of the truffle bombs into it, along with some olive oil and Parmesan cheese.  We sliced the remaining truffles and scattered them over the pasta.  Again, we were not disappointed.  

Oregon truffles have their own unique smell and flavor.  It is hard to describe...earthy, pungent, heady, intoxicating.  We are now dedicated fans of the delicacy and are planning on getting more next year.  I believe we have started another lovely food tradition in Tuscany on the Palouse.