01.02.08

Truffle This!

Posted in Rants and Raves at 12:05 am by Chef Matt

It seems that this country goes through periods of culinary stagnation wherein one ingredient is seen as the magical cure-all for whatever it is that someone is cooking. It is the epitome of culinary stagnation, like some collective “writer’s block” that all chefs suffer from simultaneously, and they collectively fill that void in their creativity by all agreeing to use the same ingredient to death while they all work on their own dishes in secret until the public has finally had enough.

The return to sanity has thankfully come for these guys.

For example, I remember quite clearly the period of the early 90’s where you couldn’t go into any restaurant without finding at least half the dishes adorned with sun dried tomatoes. They were everywhere and on everything. Pizzas, breads, salads, canapés, pasta dishes, sauces, just about anything you could think of had sun dried tomatoes involved in them in one way or another. I never saw it, but I’m sure somebody tried to sell sun dried tomato ice cream at some point. It was that insane. Entire cookbooks were hastily written on the subject so as to cash in on the fact that people saw this ingredient as the only way to make their dishes popular and palatable. The madness quickly subsided thankfully until cilantro made a similar run in the late 90’s and early 00’s.

Now we are in the midst of yet another such run. Where one ingredient seems to be the end-all-be-all of haute cuisine. That ingredient is of course, the truffle. I’m specifically noticing more the white truffle than the prohibitively expensive black truffle of course, but it is in and on everything. White truffle oil is drizzled onto almost every dish as a finishing touch while white truffle shavings adorn every appetizer imaginable - regardless of how their flavor and/or aroma compliment (or conflict with) the food with which they are paired.

In comedy, they say the ultimate example of a hack is a comedian who just goes up to the microphone and merely tells jokes. I would have to say that the moniker of “hack” could just as easily be applied to a chef who just liberally sprinkles the “ingredient of the month” around on whatever dish without a care. And in at this point in history it seems that truffles are being tossed around like poker chips on a Vegas craps table.

White truffles. Great when used PROPERLY!

This is not to say I don’t like truffles myself. If used sparingly and properly, they are nothing short of wonderful. I even have some in my fridge as I write this, as well as some truffle oil on my counter. But I don’t go pouring them on to every dish I make just to impress my wife and friends.

And it’s not to say that we don’t use truffles at my restaurant either. With the Autumn pizza’s run coming to an end thanks to the end of back mission fig season, Andrew (another sous chef) has come up with a wonderful winter pizza. Roasted cauliflower, white truffle peelings and a fines herbs salad topped with white truffle oil together make a fabulous pizza that works together in harmony and balance. It’s not just truffles for truffles’ sake, it is part of the winter theme and works well with all the other ingredients atop the crust.

All I’m asking for is some sort of wake-up call among chefs and home cooks and the celebrity chefs. Please, for the love of God, realize that truffles, like any other ingredient, are not meant for every dish you make. There are foods they go well with, and foods they will easily overwhelm. It is important to know which are which, and to use that knowledge to create good food.

Of course, all I really have to do is wait until truffles go out of favor, which will happen soon enough… and then brace myself for whatever ingredient is the next “chosen one”.

Chef Matt

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