299507 Tue Dec 21 14:29:24 -0800 2004 34 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1659660 Well, finally got around to buying TJ's White Truffle Oil ($8.99 for a generous 8.5 oz) a few days ago. Made rigatoni w/ mushrooms, zucchini, garlic in a very light cream sauce. Opened the bottle, took a whiff, and couldn't smell much. Drizzled lightly over the warm pasta...hmmm, still not much of an aroma. Took a bite and could *barely* detect any truffle essence. Added a bit more, but could taste the oil more than the truffle flavor. VERY DISAPPOINTING and did not compare to intense truffle oils from Italy which I've had before. Anyone have a similar experience? Maybe the black truffle oil is better? On the way out, my eyes honed in on a little pint-sized bottle of limoncello ($10 pint-sized bottle says made in Italy). Had a really good limoncello martini the other night, so I'm kind of fixated on this yellow potion from one of my favorite fruits. Anyone try the limoncello specifically from TJ's? Hoping to avoid another truffle oil incident... As a side note, the new TJ's that just opened in Santa Cruz, CA is by far the largest that I've ever been to in CA. Aisles probably 50% larger; parking lot eerily spacious. I know this is kind of pessimistic and laden w/ stereotyping, but I hope this does not signal the beginning of the end... Tue Dec 21 14:29:24 -0800 2004 0 Carb Lover 1 1659662 The bottle of white truffle oil I bought at TJ's last year was very aromatic. In fact, I remember opening it for the first time and thinking I should dab it behind my ears it smelled so good. Perhaps this year's batch is not as good, or perhaps you got a bad bottle. Tue Dec 21 14:33:53 -0800 2004 1659660 0 Ruth Lafler 2 1659671 I'd say take it back, it must be bad...I got some last week, I think on Ruth's rec, and I think its great...the SO loves it.. Link: http://www.bistrodraw.com Tue Dec 21 15:32:46 -0800 2004 1659662 0 galleygirl 1 1659665 Don't get what you think you are are stereotyping, but don't knock Santa Cruzans. My stepdaughter happens to be a student there at the most "baked" university campus in the US, according to Rolling Stone, and maybe the wide aisles are for the expanded consciousness. Heck, we can hope it's the beginning of the end for Walmart's. Tue Dec 21 14:46:14 -0800 2004 1659660 0 Gary Soup 2 1659680 Didn't intend to 'knock Santa Cruzans', as I'm a full-fledged resident and quite like it here. My stereotyping comment was more about my concern that TJ's expansion may be a sign that they are moving away from their roots and toward mass appeal...hopefully not to the point of Wal-mart. Tue Dec 21 16:36:35 -0800 2004 1659665 0 Carb Lover 2 1659754 I had to comment on your Walmart reference. The Walton family has a strangle hold on a great portion of the U.S. retail market. Trader Joe's isn't owned by Joe. It's owned by the German version of the Walton family, a couple of brothers named Albrecht. The Aldi chain in Germany is one of their flagships, and they also own a healthy chunk of Albertson's. Joe's may feel quaint, but it ain't! Link: http://www.forbes.com/finance/lists/10/2003/LIR.jhtml?passListId=10&passYear=2003&passListType=Person&uniqueId=6WGQ&datatype=Person Wed Dec 22 13:39:25 -0800 2004 1659665 0 K. Gerstenberger 2 1659755 I had to comment on your Walmart reference. The Walton family has a strangle hold on a great portion of the U.S. retail market. Trader Joe's isn't owned by Joe. It's owned by the German version of the Walton family, a couple of brothers named Albrecht. The Aldi chain in Germany is one of their flagships, and they also own a healthy chunk of Albertson's. Joe's may feel quaint, but it ain't! Link: http://www.forbes.com/finance/lists/10/2003/LIR.jhtml?passListId=10&passYear=2003&passListType=Person&uniqueId=6WGQ&datatype=Person Wed Dec 22 13:39:32 -0800 2004 1659665 0 K. Gerstenberger 2 1659756 I had to comment on your Walmart reference. The Walton family has a strangle hold on a great portion of the U.S. retail market. Trader Joe's isn't owned by Joe. It's owned by the German version of the Walton family, a couple of brothers named Albrecht. The Aldi chain in Germany is one of their flagships, and they also own a healthy chunk of Albertson's. Joe's may feel quaint, but it ain't! Link: http://www.forbes.com/finance/lists/10/2003/LIR.jhtml?passListId=10&passYear=2003&passListType=Person&uniqueId=6WGQ&datatype=Person Wed Dec 22 13:42:37 -0800 2004 1659665 0 K. Gerstneberger 3 1659759 But the big difference is that TJ's is still a privately held company. The moment that a company sells out to the open market is the moment when that company trades its soul for the almighty dollar. TJ's may be part of a greater entity, but retains a distinctly non-corporate vibe in the way they treat their employees and manage their stores. The day that TJ's sells out to the stock market is the day that employee benefits will start to be cut by board members, stockholders and CEOs that don't care about the people who made them great. Personally I hope that day never comes. Mr. Taster Wed Dec 22 14:04:19 -0800 2004 1659756 0 Mr. Taster 1 1659674 How did you make that limoncello martini? I'm always in the market for a new bad habit ... Tue Dec 21 16:03:12 -0800 2004 1659660 0 Louise Z. 2 1659689 Actually ordered it from a restaurant in Berkeley. Didn't ask how they made it, but don't imagine it's too difficult. I'm not a big spirit drinker, but it had that alcohol bite while being smooth w/o cloying sweetness or being "girlified." Served in a sugar-rimmed martini glass. Mmmmm...maybe I should make a stop at TJ's again... Tue Dec 21 17:28:17 -0800 2004 1659674 0 Carb Lover 3 1659709 The Limoncello is very sweet, however you could cut the sweetness with Burnett's lemon vodka also available at TJ's. Wed Dec 22 02:25:16 -0800 2004 1659689 0 Tracy L. 1 1659677 I have not tried the white, but I just bought a bottle of the black truffle oil and let me tell you, it's pungent stuff. garlicky, musky, earthy, truffley goodness. Had it last night with friends-- drizzled over TJ's egg pappardale pasta with shrimp, basil and parmesan reggiano. Delicious-- friends RAVED about it! Mr. Taster Tue Dec 21 16:14:52 -0800 2004 1659660 0 Mr. Taster 2 1659684 "drizzled over TJ's egg pappardale pasta with shrimp, basil and parmesan reggiano." Damn, that sounds good! Tue Dec 21 16:43:55 -0800 2004 1659677 0 Linda W. 3 1659688 I felt that the truffle has such a distinct flavor that it's best to combine it with the milder, more neutral flavors with only a bit of parmesan for that saltiness. I know technically you're supposed to use smaller pasta for oil, but that egg pappardale was calling to me from my pantry :-) Mr. Taster Tue Dec 21 17:13:50 -0800 2004 1659684 0 Mr. Taster 1 1659682 I may be in the minority, but I do not like truffle oil. I think that I read that Patricia Wells said, in one way or another, that she would ban it from cooking. Tue Dec 21 16:40:57 -0800 2004 1659660 0 Nancy 2 1659690 I do respect Patricia Wells (esp. pertaining to Provencale cuisine), but I've also had pretty amazing tasting truffle oil whereby one tiny dribble smells like fungal heaven. Of course, I'd prefer truffle shavings instead of infused oil over fresh pasta anyday, but well, oil is as close as I'm gonna get to that nugget for now... Tue Dec 21 17:35:09 -0800 2004 1659682 0 Carb Lover 1 1659692 I've never tried the white truffle oil, but I have to tell you the Black is wonderful stuff. Very full of flavor and smell, love to use a bit on pasta , but my fav. way to use is to just add a few drops to the fresh sweet corn soup I make in the summer. Wow, soo good. Here in the midwest, we are still seeing T.J. open small, almost old-fashioned type stores. We are getting more and more in the Chicago area, but I still have to drive 25 miles to get to the closest one. It's so good to be able to go to a store that isn't super-sized, you can shop on a day when your feet hurt or your not quite up to par! Do take back your white oil, T.J. stands behind eveything and will take it back willingly. Tue Dec 21 18:19:19 -0800 2004 1659660 0 jackie 1 1659693 I've tried both the white and the black and found that the white was much stronger. I've noticed that this product is frequently out of stock at T.J.'s. There may be significant variations among batches. As for the limoncello, the stuff I've had from Italy was quite dry. The bottle I got at T.J.'s (Villa Massa is the brand) is extremely sweet. I didn't care for it. Tue Dec 21 18:38:08 -0800 2004 1659660 0 Bob Brooks 2 1659704 Thanks for your comments on both products. The limoncello martini I had was pleasingly dry, and I was worried about getting something too sweet. May still try the TJ's one since I'm curious... BTW, do you store limoncello in the fridge? It's supposed to be served chilled, right? In what ways have you seen it served/used in Italy? THANKS! Tue Dec 21 23:46:56 -0800 2004 1659693 0 Carb Lover 3 1659710 I put mine in the freezer. Wed Dec 22 02:27:01 -0800 2004 1659704 0 Tracy L. 3 1659740 If you poke around a bit on the older General Topics pages, there are some good recipes for homemade limoncello posted. Wed Dec 22 11:50:19 -0800 2004 1659704 0 Caitlin McGrath 4 1659749 Definitely make your own. You'll easily be able to make better limoncello than what you can buy. A friend and I made some this summer and were very, very pleased with the results. Wed Dec 22 13:09:17 -0800 2004 1659740 0 Spade 3 1659776 Although I prefer it chilled, Italians rarely do so. In fact, like grappas, a good limoncello probably releases more of its subtle flavors are room temp. Wed Dec 22 17:06:36 -0800 2004 1659704 0 Bob Brooks 1 1659751 Make sure you bought truffle oil and not olive oil flavored with truffles. I made this mistake and with the pricing info you gave, it sounds like you may have too. Wed Dec 22 13:26:47 -0800 2004 1659660 0 rkn 2 1659752 All truffle oil is oil (olive or other neutral oil) infused with truffle pieces. Truffles have no oil. Wed Dec 22 13:34:01 -0800 2004 1659751 0 chococat 3 1659757 Not to mention that if you actually could press truffles for their oil, the bottles of oil would be 100 times the already insane price of fresh truffles (as much as $100/oz.) Check out this web link which sells 1kg of truffles for 1700 euros. That breaks down to about $63 an ounce. Mr. Taster Link: http://www.truffe-perigord-noir.com/uk_m2c5.asp?Var=0 Wed Dec 22 13:47:51 -0800 2004 1659752 0 Mr. Taster 3 1659768 ...not necessarily flavored by being "...infused with truffle pieces" - during a demo I attended last fall, I was told directly by Michael Lachowicz, the former chef at Le Francais in suburban Chicago, that most truffle oils are artificially flavored. I would think he'd know! Wed Dec 22 14:30:11 -0800 2004 1659752 0 peg 4 1659787 I stand corrected-- some truffle oils are artificially flavored. But I think the poster was trying to imply that a vast quantity of truffles are somehow pressed to extract "truffle oil" which is incorrect. Wed Dec 22 19:56:16 -0800 2004 1659768 0 chococat 1 1659764 For the price, what did you expect? Wed Dec 22 14:20:46 -0800 2004 1659660 0 TP 2 1659773 I know, I know...I was at my favorite local market last night and checked out their oil section to compare. They had a couple of bottles imported from Italy about the same size as TJ's that were going for $25 to $40. Other hounds seem to like the TJ's version...maybe I got a "bad" bottle, but I have a feeling it was intended to be this way. Not sure if I'll take it back... Wed Dec 22 15:31:35 -0800 2004 1659764 0 Carb Lover 3 1659779 Your description of the oil does not match my experience -- I really don't think it is "intended to be this way." I'd take it back and tell them why you're unhappy with it -- they might be able to smell it and tell you if it's a typical bottle or you got a bad one. Wed Dec 22 17:40:00 -0800 2004 1659773 0 Ruth Lafler 1 1659797 i remember reading some time ago that the very aromatic truffle oils are often produced with shortcuts that might go as far as including artificial scents. now if you can take that to mean that the mild stuff is more authentic is beyond my knowledge to judge. i also recall that some of them actually include a tiny chip of truffle. again, if that pebble is in fact white truffle perhaps only a pig would know. Wed Dec 22 21:19:39 -0800 2004 1659660 0 ed 1 1659911 The $8.99 didn't tip you off that the stuff might not be the best quality? Usually, a tiny 2 or 3 ounce bottle of good truffle oil costs about $30. As for the limoncello - it's actually pretty good, esp if you keep in the freezer so that it becomes viscous. Thu Dec 23 21:31:40 -0800 2004 1659660 0 dkotler 1 1660272 A girlfriend and I were in a Napolitano-ish restaurant in, I think, Trastevere, the only customers, and when we'd finished and the restaurant was closing, the owner brought us some of his homemade limoncello. I'd never had it before, and it made an impression - cool, viscous, and lemony in the way a rose gheer is rosy - you breath lemon for a while after you drink it. It was very special. I hadn't seen much limoncello in the States, so I tried the TJ's version. It's not total crap, probably worth the - what is it, ten or fifteen bucks? But it was alcohol-y, not very lemony, not very good. I only tried the cream version, not the translucent non-cream version - the kind I had in Rome was translucent yellow, like beaten egg yolks. I'm not excited enough to try the plain kind. However, if anybody has a source for awesome limoncello, I'd be interested. Thu Dec 30 16:32:30 -0800 2004 1659660 0 Sarah Perry