Posted on January 18, 2022
How to Use Black Truffle Salt For Cooking Dishes?
Black truffle is actually the outer fruiting body of an underground ascomycanete fungi, mostly one of the large species of this genus, Tuber. This fungi also contains a large group of enzymes called "artein". Moreover, other fungi are also classified as truffles such as Geopora, Peziza, Choiromyces, and more than a hundred others. Among these, the black-purple variety is most common and cultivated as a food with a multitude of culinary applications.
Truffles can be used both in salty and sweet dishes. Although there is considerable controversy over whether or not truffles have a flavor that improves with heat, no one can argue that their rich, earthy taste is unmistakably present in dishes prepared with them. The most famous use of black truffle sea salt is in blackberry lemonade. The intense taste of this southern France seasoning can easily be mistaken for the tart taste of tart cherries much like a raspberry jam, in fact.
Traditionally, black truffles are salty, while white varieties are less salty. Sea salt is said to be twice as effective as regular table salt, while La Coste Bleu Extra surreptitiously puts black truffles in its own tiny black bag, apparently to preserve the flavor for a longer period of time (some experts say up to three months). More significantly, it's a marketing scheme. The bags of sea salt are available on the Internet and are almost exclusively offered by companies selling sea and health products. It's hard to believe that sea salt is more flavorful than table salt, but this is indeed a controversial issue.
Black sea salts are sold in small tubes, and can often be found displayed prominently on kitchen shelves. Many chefs and cooks feel that sea salt is fine to use, as it adds a subtle but noticeable taste to any dish it's placed in. I, however, would never set my cooking tongue on a tube of La Coste Bleu Extra, as I find it quite bitter and taste like plastic. The flavor you get from La Coste Bleu Extra is a little too clean, and it's difficult to achieve the intense freshness of sea salts.
On the other hand, I've always liked truffles, so La Coste Bleu Extra was perfect. I also had a problem with black truffles, they dissolve too quickly. When I was a teenager, my grandmother would make homemade cornbread from truffles which were stored in aluminum foil on a hot griddle. As soon as the first fork hit the foil, the cornbread was done! Unfortunately, black truffle salt doesn't hold up well to this kind of treatment, so I gave up the idea and went for the seaweed variety.
But the sea salts were my favorite. They're a little bit more expensive than La Coste Bleu, but I felt that they added an extra layer of flavor. My trick for cooking black truffle salt successfully involved cooking the spices and herbs together, and then letting them rest for several hours before I used them. After letting the herbs and spices sit, I mixed together with a tablespoon or two of cheese, a teaspoon of butter, a pinch of sea salt, and then stirred these ingredients together until the mixture was smooth and creamy. Then I sprinkled this mixture over my fried eggs, followed by a final sprinkle of cheese and sea salt. The dish was simply amazing.
Now, whenever I make French fries for dinner, I add black truffle salt to the batter to increase their flavor and texture. I've also used it as a topping on white rice and baked potato dishes. I've also sprinkled it over sauteed mushrooms, and grilled chicken. These dishes have the same texture and flavoring as the black truffle salt, and are a great way to up the flavors in bland dishes!
Some suggestions for how to use this versatile seasoning are to sprinkle it over top of eggs when you prepare them for baking or to sprinkle them over white rice and top with a little cheese and pepper. You can also use it on fish, pork, chicken, steak, and even on vegetables. It adds a little bit of color and complexity to meals without overpowering them, making it one of my must-have spices in the kitchen. So next time you're looking for an interesting ingredient to include in your cooking, consider black truffle salt.