Time for Truffles
What can you get for $113,000? Let's see…a more than decent sports car…113 designer handbags, give or take…a down payment on a respectable home…a lifetime supply of candy bars…
Then again, if given the opportunity, you could buy a mushroom.
Last fall, it was reported that the world's most expensive truffle sold for $113,000 in the annual auction at Piedmont, Italy…home of the treasured White Alba truffle.
What price this year's harvest will yield is anyone's guess. As exciting as the bidding war is sure to be, truffle hunters aren't exactly the type to suffer from sticker shock. After all, there could be nothing more pleasing to the palate than fresh truffles, no matter what the cost.
From the elegant to unexpected here's what some Four Seasons chefs are planning to do with their share of the crop this fall:
Executive Chef Sergio Mei of Four Seasons Hotel Milano makes the annual pilgrimage to Piedmont to place his bid for the best truffles of the season. His selection will be enjoyed by the 100 lucky guests of the Hotel's annual Barolo & Tartufo dinner, which takes place November 24th. Nine of the best Barolo producers (the other pride of Piedmont) will bring their choice vintages to pair with the seven, truffle laden courses Mei creates. Magnifico!
No doubt, serious truffle lovers would spread the delicacy on soda crackers, so why not jazz up a bowl of popcorn with it? That's exactly what Executive Chef Elmar Prambs is offering in the Lobby Lounge at Four Seasons Hotel Austin this fall. Warning: One taste of Prambs’ Herb Truffled Popcorn and there's a chance you may never eat the plain stuff again.
Truffles for breakfast…now that's the way to start your day. Executive Chef Martin Hamann at Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia is offering up Shredded Duck Confit Eggs Benedict with White Truffle Hollandaise sauce as part of his Sunday Brunch menu.
When the name of the restaurant is Truffles, you know only good can come out of it. Chef Lora Kirk at Four Seasons Hotel Toronto delivers with her signature Spaghettini with Truffle Foam. A perennial favourite on the menu, it lives up to the expectation.
Trained in Milan, Alessandro Cartumini at Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley knows a thing or two about truffles. He will be putting his knowledge to the test for a week this fall, offering truffle specials including Truffle and Parmesan Crusted Chicken Scaloppine.
On a final note…White Truffle Oil Parmesan Fries, served up at Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas. Enough said.
http://www.fourseasons.com/milan/dining.html
http://www.fourseasons.com/philadelphia/dining.html
http://www.fourseasons.com/siliconvalley/dining.html
