My first encounter with the White Truffle at Oso

Truffle.  All I have heard about it was how expensive it was, how precious and yummy it was.  One story from a colleague about Truffle was funny.  He brought a client for dinner, and the waiter recommended them to try truffle.  He did not want to say No in front of the client, so he agreed even though it cost $10 a shave.  So his heart sunk as he counted $10, $20, $30...

When I went to Otto for dinner, the manager also brought out a giant fungus, he said it was a good quality black truffle from Italy.  It smelt really strong. 

A truffle, as defined by Wiki, is a fungi fruiting body that develops underground and relies on mycophagy for spore dispersal. Almost all truffles are ectomycorrhizal and are therefore usually found in close association with trees.  The 18th-century French gastronome Brillat-Savarin called these truffles "the diamond of the kitchen". Edible truffles are held in high esteem in French, Spanish, northern Italian and Greek cooking, as well as in international haute cuisine.


Truffle is expensive because you need to use hogs or dogs that are trained to look for them, as they are buried underground near trees.

Finally, I had a chance to try them at Oso, an Italian restaurant down at Bukit Pasoh Road.  They had a special white truffle menu which they have used white truffle as an ingredient, you could also add extra shaving, at $6.50+++ for 1 gram!

I had a pasta with the white truffle to share with my friend, T.
The taste of the truffle was very unique.  I could not find the exact description for it.  It had a very strong smell, somewhat pungent, somewhat frangant.  When you put it in your mouth, it just melted, and it taste earthly, yet releasing a fine cheesey taste.  Simply special and heavenly.

There were not plenty to try, so you just longed for more.  I think that's the special part of White Truffle, white magic.  Hope that there will be another chance to meet the magical white truffle.