White truffles have passed Beluga caviar as the world's most expensive food. This year they're bringing $2,500 a pound, up two to three times from last year. Beluga, meanwhile, remains around $1,000 a pound, assuming you can get it. The caviar market is rife with counterfeit goods.
Even worse, this year's truffles aren't even as good as last year: the lack of rain in Europe this summer kept the few truffles that did grow from developing the full, earthy aroma that is their hallmark. Said Daniel Scherotter, executive chef at San Francisco's Palio d'Asti, "This year, it's a shaving of cardboard."
I know many of you are big-time girls and guys, CEOs and CIOs and CFOs, so you will want to consider this if you're paying instead of your company.
And don't bother with truffle-infused oils and their ilk: the Wall St. Journal, along with chef David Waltuck of Chantarelle - one of New York City's very best restaurants - tried a number of them and noted, in yesterday's paper [click on "taste test"], that they were almost uniformly dreadful, "chemical and unpleasant."
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