When fresh truffle season comes around in the winter and early spring, they seem to be all foodies can talk about: truffles, truffles, truffles. And while truffles are fantastic, what do you do when they’re gone?
Here are some other delicacies for you to try during periods of truffle-drought:
Fresh Wild Mushrooms – There’s almost always a variety in season. Try looking past the (justifiably) famous varieties like morels and golden chanterelles, and you’ll find some hidden gems waiting to be discovered. If your heart is set on a variety not currently available fresh, frozen wild mushrooms and dried wild mushrooms are available year round.
Geoducks and sea cucumber meat – believe it or not, these items are classic seafood delicacies…in Asia. They’re prized there more for their unique textures than flavors and are believed by some to have aphrodisiac qualities.
Top Quality Grass-fed Beef, yes beef. Montana Black Angus is some of the finest beef in the world…and when it is this good, it’s considered a delicacy.
Kurobuta Pork (aka Berkshire Pork) – considered to be the Kobe beef of the porcine world, kurobuta pork will prove to you that pork can have incredible flavor without being bacon.
Heritage Chickens – rediscover what chicken was supposed to taste like, before it was bred to be so bland it tasted like everything.
Fennel Pollen – This cutting-edge spice is bold, aromatic, and far more flavorful than fennel seeds. Beef, lamb, poultry, vegetables and fine seafood all benefit from a sprinkle of fennel pollen. Dill Pollen is also available.
Caviar – Yes, it’s a culinary cliché, but this delicacy also shares the gold standard of food luxury with truffles for a reason: it’s really really good!
Alternatively, here are some year-round truffle options to help you cope:
Truffle Oil – Perhaps the most affordable option, just a few drops of truffle oil will infuse your dish with truffle flavor.
Truffle Butter – Butter blended with earthy black truffles, perfect for melting into pasta or onto vegetables.
Truffle Salt – Italian sea salt blended with real black summer truffles, perhaps the ultimate finishing salt.
Preserved Truffle Pieces (truffle breakings, truffle peelings, truffle slices) – Perfect for those truffle recipes that just won’t wait!
Comments 1
I would love to try any of your truffle products. I have ordered the Ghost Chilis fromyou. They smell wonderful. I think that the truffle item that would go the fastest in my home would be the white truffle oil.