Sad but true…you really need a truffle shaver. Stainless steel are best. Failing that, a mandoline will do the trick, but way too cumbersome. About 25% of the pleasure is the whiffing sound the shaver makes as it covers your dish with truffles, and you are hard pressed to hold a mandoline over a plate! A knife or cheese grater are not in the realm of the possible. You need slices so thin that they pretty much melt on contact with hot food…
a microplane is the best for truffles. truffle shaver is prettier, but a microplane is the most efficient.
Here is a signature dish from one of our favorite restaurants in Caluso during truffle season:
Bake a potato, scoop out the flesh and mix with butter/finely chopped hazelnuts, top with a delicately poached egg…shave truffles.
I’d rather see more truffle on the food.
-Al
That was how it was plated…the guy then came over and added another layer. And this was part of an all truffle menu, including a truffle ice cream to finish.
No but seriously. Don’t we have a food forum. That has a long thread talking about truffles
Says the guy talking about Nissan GTRs on a wine talk thread 
ugh. talk about impulse buying . . .
I am a big Microplane fan, and would not use anything else for shaving Parmigiano, but the Microplane shavers that I have seen are not adjustable. There is variation in texture of white truffles, and I doubt that a one-size-fits-all shaver can always do the best job. It would require varying the hand pressure on the truffle, and that risks inconsistent thickness of the slices and crumbling; to me, the aesthetic matters when one is paying such a hefty price. Maximum effect is had if the thinner-than-paper-thin truffle wilts/melts into the food. The goal is to avoid any crunch in the slices and any crumbled bits. However, if there is ever a Microplane shaver with adjustable thickness, I would buy one in a heartbeat…
Bill, I promise not to inundate the dishes with parmigiano, but I always put some in. Seems like others do this as well!
For wines. I have the following choices, if anyone has an opinion please let me know. My Barolos just don’t go back more than 15 years, I’m going to need another 10 years before I really have a quality Barolo cellar to match my Burg cellar…
1989 A Conterno ‘Colonnello’
1990 G Conterno ‘Cascine Francia’
1989/1990 Giacosa ‘Falletto di Serralunga’ Riserva
1990 Giacosa ‘Castiglione’
If none of these, was going to skip to '97s and '98s as notes seem to imply that they’re ready to go?
For '97s, Sandrone ‘CB’? Gaja ‘Sperss’? A Conterno ‘Granbussia’? Scavino ‘Rocche Annunz’?
For '98s, Giacosa ‘Santo Stefano’ riserva or ‘Rocche del Falletto di Serral’?
Thoughts oh Italian Wine Buffs??
Peter, while there is no bigger fan of the late Marcella on earth, this recipe is a disaster from a truffle perspective. Marcella was, admittedly, a girl of the Marche, rather than the Piemonte, but I would have assumed that she knew better than to cook white truffles with 3 ounces of Parmigiano. The torino no doubt tastes great, but it is a total waste of a precious commodity. A few drops of truffle oil would be better in this recipe than any amount of fresh truffle. Dishes like that one are what black truffles are for. If you want to sprinkle a few grains of cheese on your dishes the same way one might use salt, I can support you. Otherwise, we can act out the “I know it was you, Freddo. You broke my heart. You broke my heart!” scene from Godfather II!
Wines? Any from your first list, plus 1997 Sperss and 1998 Giacosa SSR. The 1989 Colonello should not disappoint…
Ok. I’m in your hands. What should I cook? I have the tagliatelle, I have arborio rice, I have very thin veal cutlets, I have eggs. You pick and I’ll cook 2 meals!
For wines, Gonna go for the '97 Sperss and '98 Giacosa as I’ve been looking at those bottles…
And maybe the '89 Colonello!
Agreed.
Dude, I am all over it. I am in the doctor’s office right now (getting root canals on my arteries to help me make it safely through truffle season), but you are in a no-lose situation here. I will bring my “A” game for you, and even find a way to take care of your Parmigiano jones/addiction!
Winner, winner, chicken dinner!
God I hate this place. Had this been buried in the food forum I wouldn’t have seen it. To keep it wine talk friendly, I’ll just mention that I will be drinking wine with whatever I eat the truffles with/on. Eggs and pasta and butter, oh my!
We’re talkin’ 'bout the Barolo that goes with the truffles. All good for wine talk!!!
As much as I hate,not really,to agree with Bill:
a shaver is the only way to go with truffles.it is an instrument and must be treated as such
absolutely no parmigano,big NO NO…that would negate all you are seeking to enjoy with your tartufi
I won’t disagree with the 97 Sperss for variety,but I would keep your 98 SSR in the stable and go for the 1989/1990 Giacosa ‘Falletto di Serralunga’ Riserva with an enlightened slow O regime…and as for your breakfast…champagne or what’s left from your Giacosa,if any.
I just ordered an ounce and a shaver for Pre Thanksgiving dinner and Thanksgiving breakfast for the dear wife and I.
This may be what lawyers call a declaration against interest, and you will have to pry the Nebbiolo bottle out of my dead hand at any table where white truffles are being served, but the truth is that old, good Burgundy goes with just as well, as does Champagne in most preparations (even if the Piemontese cuisine does not work quite the same magic on Champagne that it does on Nebbiolo, Barbera, Dolcetto and Pinot Noir), and…I hope that I am not burned at the stake for this heresy…even Hermitage and Cote-Rotie can do the trick! (Think about it: despite the relative delicacy of the white truffle, at some point of tangency, a truffle is a truffle. Thus, if a good, preferably aged, not-too-heavy Hermitage or Cote-Rotie pairs perfectly with Paul Bocuse’s black truffle soup and Bresse chicken with black truffle slices under the skin, you can figure that it will not miss the mark with a white truffle dish, either. You need to be a bit more selective, of course, but conjure up the taste and aroma of the 1990 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle while you are sniffing your white truffle, and you will understand from whence I come…)
Paul, Fu’s panties will wad quickly if I go into a dissertation on Parmigiano-Reggiano and umami rather than discussing wine or barely street-legal motor-driven phallic symbols, so I will PM you with all of that and recipes!