white truffles?

[Bert]

anyone had or seen white truffles yet this season?

[galeforcewind]

I've seen them at the Hollywood Farmer's Market at the LA FungHi booth down by the Arclight end of the market.

www.LAFungHi.com

[vinosnob]

Price? Quality?

[galeforcewind]

Sorry, didn't buy them, just know they have them. Someone came early and bought their whole supply last week - if one wants to use demand as an indication of quality ...

[vinosnob]

Wow, that says something!

[perk]

If it's the mushroom guy.....he has domestic truffles every year around this time. Actually, they must be early this year.....usually, they're closer to thanksgiving. i think the price is normally in the $30 a pound range.....

[Gnoop]

How long does he have the local truffles? I recall Alba has a mid-January cutoff which is right about the time I'll be in need. Lucky me :(

[AAQjr]

IIRC last year you could get local truffles until the 1st week of February

[Gnoop]

That shouldn't be too bad, then. White truffle risotto it will be!

[manku]

I spoke with the owner....$4000/lb, or about $250/ounce which is what wally's/beverly hills cheese store are charging.

Urbani mail order has them for $138/ounce...so I may order from them...anyone have any experiences with them? I know they are probably the biggest importer of truffles and truffle condiments so I'm not concerned, but any first hand experience with them would be nice before I drop $300 on a couple shrooms :)

[vinosnob]

Not first hand, but urbani truffles got positive reviews on another board:

http://wineberserkers.com/viewtopic.p...

[RicRios]

The Urbani family controls 80% of the entire world's truffle business.
If you like old fashioned Mafia, go for it!

( Even the town where their headquarters are located sounds suggestive: Anatolia di Narco...
http://panjiva.com/Urbani-Tartufi-S-N... )

[Mimoso]

As a chef and a man obsessed with truffles I can honestly say that the truffles this year have been stunning. In terms of aroma, flavor, size and availability it looks to be a banner year. They are far less expensive then last season so mind what you pay and enjoy.

[Porthos]

I agree. I just had platefuls of the stuff in Rome and it's better than its been the past 3 years, even this early in the season.

[sushigirlie]

I've seen them at Leonidas in Santa Monica.

[Harry Niletti]

I heard that the truffles at Leonidas are not rooted out by sustainable pigs.

-Harry

[Gnoop]

Or trained dogs for that matter.

[RicRios]

Just curious: what makes a pig sustainable?

[wilafur]

i think he was joking as leonida's in SM is a chocolate store.

[joshekg]

You saw truffles the tuber type at leonidas or white chocolate truffles?

[trufflehunter]

Yes they are already about, but hold on to your money. They will be much better in another 3 or 4 weeks

[perk]

I've gotten e-mails from Providence and Patina...saying they're serving special white truffle menus. A friend had dinner at Providence the other night and had a pasta dish with white truffles.....she said they were quite good. I'm heading there soon myself!

[AAQjr]

Cal/Oregon or European?

[Bert]

European... Answering that question made me feel very Monty Python...