What foods go with truffle? The only truffle paring guide you will need.

If you've been following our blog, you know we're passionate about the science of food pairing, especially when it comes to truffles. This is a vast topic, and we've dedicated several posts to exploring the details, from how your brain perceives flavors to identifying and matching foods based on their chemical compounds. In this post, we'll provide an overview of truffle pairing—a high-level summary of the science of flavor pairing, what foods go well with truffle, and how you can create your own recipes with them. Let's dive in!

What is flavor paring?

At its simplest, early food pairing theory suggested that ingredients sharing flavor compounds were more likely to taste good together than those that did not. However, it didn't take long to find exceptions where contrasting flavors still worked beautifully together. For example, in cuisines like Indian, combinations of very contrasting flavors are used, and they result in wonderfully exciting dishes. This finding is actually quite thrilling, as it means that food pairing isn't strictly a science but also an art, shaped by experience and the culinary traditions of different cultures. These traditions have developed over time, based on local ingredients and customs.

What foods go with truffle?

Well, this is where it gets a bit complicated. There are two paths you can take. The first is to train your nose to match truffles with your recipe ingredients. The second is to use a flavor database where all the work has been done for you.

Let's first look at training your nose to match truffles with recipe ingredients. We've covered this extensively before, and we have links to those posts here. In brief, it's about familiarizing yourself with the 250 flavor compounds in Australian black winter truffles using the aroma wheel developed by Dr. Gary Lee. Through a process of learning, you train your nose to detect these compounds by smelling them. This can take years to master, and there are various techniques we've discussed in some of our previous posts. As you can imagine, it's a slow but immensely rewarding journey. With enough practice, you can reach a level of mastery where you can, just by smell, identify how each truffle will pair with your steak, pasta, or cheese.

The second path is to use one of the many flavor databases available online. Since we last covered these in previous blog posts, they have developed very user-friendly interfaces.

A bit hard to see but this data base give an excellent idea of what works with truffle.

The first of these is the Flavour Map DB. As you can see from the picture above, all the compounds listed for black truffle are matched to other ingredients with the same compounds. For example, you can quickly hover over a dot to reveal that truffle pairs well with cauliflower—and they do! You can access this database here.

The second database, FlavorDB, is a bit more detailed but just as useful. It features an impressive graphical user interface and contains a breakdown of different compounds, their molecular structures, and much more. This is where you can really dive deep into the science of truffle compounds.

The Flavor Data Base is an excelent user friendly interface for finding what pares well with truffle.

If you your short of the time to get into those databases I can quickly tell you that black winter truffle go well with eggs, mushrooms, a variety of cheeses, pasta, beef and fish. Flavor match any of these with a sauce and truffle and you are in heaven. Think for example pan fried salmon laid on a bed of mash potatoes, topped with tartar sauce infused with truffle, then finished off with a shaving of fresh Fish River Truffle truffle, glorious! Getting the idea?

Creating your own truffle food combinations

Taking it to the next level is a technique chefs use to create recipes called flavor bouncing. Flavor bouncing is the art of combining ingredients with the same compounds in a single recipe. Mastering this technique allows you to explore new and exciting food combinations, elevating the artistry of food creation and enjoyment. While this isn't my area of expertise, I found the video below where chef Grant Achatz demonstrates this technique beautifully.

And there you have it, our ultimate guide to paring truffle with food. I hope you liked it. If you did, please feel free to share the joy with your friends and fellow truffle lovers. If you've got any truffle stories or questions, as always, we're all ears.

Ciao for now truffle lovers.

Carmine