What does truffle taste like?
Truffle tastes earthy and musky, like an intense mushroom crossed with garlic and damp forest floor, and most of what you taste is really its powerful smell.
Truffle
earthy, musky forest floor
Truffles are fungi that grow underground on tree roots, sniffed out by trained dogs (and traditionally pigs). Black truffles are earthy, a little chocolatey and mellow, and taste best warmed. White truffles, from Italy, are stronger and more garlicky, and get shaved raw over pasta or eggs. Here's the catch: most 'truffle' on a menu, from truffle fries to truffle mac, is truffle oil, which is usually flavored with a lab-made aroma. It tastes like truffle turned up loud and one-note. Real truffle is subtler and much more expensive.
Where you’ll see it
Shaved over pasta, risotto, eggs or pizza (often a pricey add-on), and as truffle oil, butter or salt on fries, mac and cheese, burgers and popcorn.
Order it if you love mushrooms, garlic and earthy flavors, and you're up for something that tastes expensive.
Quick questions
- Is truffle oil made from real truffles?
- Usually not. Most truffle oil is olive oil flavored with a synthetic truffle aroma. It's louder and simpler than the real thing, which is why some chefs avoid it.
- Do truffles taste like mushrooms?
- Kind of, but deeper and muskier. Think mushroom plus garlic plus damp earth, with an aroma strong enough to fill a room.