Truffle Paste, Truffle Oil and Truffle Products: What Is Worth Buying

Few ingredients have the pull of truffle. A few shavings of fresh black truffle turn scrambled eggs or a bowl of pasta into an occasion. The catch is that fresh truffles are seasonal, perishable and very expensive.

Truffle products fill that gap. Some are excellent. Some taste of very little truffle at all. Here is how to tell them apart.

Black truffles, briefly

Truffles are underground fungi that grow on the roots of certain trees, mainly oak and hazelnut. The prized black winter truffle (Tuber melanosporum, also called the Périgord truffle) has an intense, earthy, almost chocolatey aroma. The summer truffle (Tuber aestivum) is milder and far less expensive, and it is what goes into many preserved truffle products.

Australia grows black winter truffles too, mainly in Western Australia and Tasmania, harvested in our winter from about June to August.

How to read a truffle label

• Look for real truffle in the ingredients, ideally with a percentage and the species named.
• Be wary of "truffle aroma" or "flavouring". Many truffle oils get most of their smell from flavouring rather than truffle. Not bad, but not the same thing.
• Check what else is in it. A good truffle paste or pesto lists recognisable ingredients: mushrooms, olive oil, cheese, salt.

Truffle paste and truffle pesto

Truffle paste is usually truffle blended with mushrooms and oil, and it is the most useful truffle product in the kitchen. A spoonful stirred into pasta, risotto or scrambled eggs goes a long way.

Belazu Truffle and Artichoke Pesto blends black truffles from Piedmont, artichokes from Puglia and aged Parmigiano Reggiano. Toss it through hot pasta with a little pasta water, or use it in our truffle and artichoke stuffed mushrooms.

Truffle condiments and pantry sets

Italian producer Borgo de Medici make a range of truffle products. Borgo de Medici Truffle Condiments are for finishing dishes. The Black Truffle Pantry Set brings several truffle products together in one box, which makes it an easy gift for someone who loves to cook. The Truffle Risotto Kit is built for a truffle risotto night.

Truffle snacks

Truffle works surprisingly well with salt and crunch.

• Hunter's Gourmet Black Truffle chips come in a gift-worthy canister, and there is a Black Truffle and Parmesan version too.
• Mr Filbert's Italian Black Truffle Mixed Nuts are made for a glass of something cold.

See how we use them in truffle chips on the grazing table and in truffle chip crumbed chicken.

How to cook with truffle products

Add them at the end. Truffle aroma is delicate and heat drives it off. Stir truffle paste into pasta or risotto off the heat, and drizzle truffle oil over the finished plate, never into the pan.

Pair with fat and starch. Truffle loves butter, cream, eggs, cheese, potato, pasta and rice. They carry the aroma and let it linger.

Keep the rest simple. Truffle does not need help. Skip strong herbs, garlic-heavy sauces and chilli on the same plate.

Three quick truffle ideas

• Truffle scrambled eggs. Soft scrambled eggs, a teaspoon of truffle paste stirred through at the end, on buttered toast.
• Truffle mash. A spoonful of truffle paste beaten into buttery mashed potato. Very good next to roast beef at Christmas.
• Truffle cheese toastie. A thin layer of truffle pesto inside a cheese toastie.

Browse all of our truffle products, or the Borgo de Medici and Belazu ranges.