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Showerthought: I was at a fancy pizza place in Austin and realized truffle oil is a total scam
I ordered a $28 'truffle mushroom' pizza there last month, and the whole thing just tasted like fake chemical perfume. The server said it was 'real white truffle oil' but I looked it up after, and most of that stuff is just olive oil with 2,4-dithiapentane, a lab-made flavor. It completely ruined the good mushrooms and cheese. Now I always ask if a place uses real truffles or just the oil before I order. Anyone else think truffle oil gets way too much hype for what it is?
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robert_anderson6920d ago
Well, the thing is, real white truffle oil is also made with that same compound. It's just a chemical that's in real truffles. The problem is that the oil is a super strong, one-note version of the flavor. A real, fresh truffle has a lot more going on, and it's usually shaved on at the end. When they cook with the oil, it just blasts that one flavor over everything and often burns off. You're right to be annoyed, but it's not that the flavor is "fake." It's that it's a cheap, overpowering way to try and get that taste.
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felixfisher12d agoTop Commenter
Just ask if they use real truffle next time.
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