Truffles

Forget Keat’s ‘time of mellow fruitfulness‘, I want his ‘season of mists’. For me it signifies a time of abundant fungi, and particularly truffles. I look forward to fresh alba truffles from Piedmont, and black truffles from Périgord… I’ve been using summer truffles for months, and can’t wait for some of their more heavily scented cousins to arrive… Until the supply kicks-in in earnest, Hubby and I have been seeking out the first of the new season offerings on Alyn Williams‘ truffle tasting menu.

Alyn has fed me so many firsts this year, and is the only chef who’s had me buying gulls eggs, and eel, to cook at home – that’s my idea of an inspirational cook. As a result we were delighted when he received his first Michelin star recently, and won the National Chef of the Year competition a few days later

On this occasion the room was full of truffle aficionado’s – though this shouldn’t put you off – a truffle tasted for the first time is just as enjoyable as the last… There’s something in the scent, the (almost) melt-in-the-mouth texture which will leaves you wanting more. Truffles are rumoured to be addictive, but apparently some people are just more susceptible to their charms than others… Here the dishes were so varied that it wasn’t a case of sensory overload, but of a steady appreciation of precious and highly seasonal ingredients.

Sweetcorn might seem an unusual vehicle for truffles, but having had sweetcorn chowder spiked perfectly with lemongrass at Eleven Madison Park, I’ve come to appreciate its sweet simplicity anew. There was a smooth silky sweetcorn puree beneath the ravioli, and a scattering of crunchy fresh kernels. The scallop ravioli itself was light and delicate, with shaved alba truffle on top.

Scallop ravioli, sweet corn, white truffle

Jerusalem artichoke panna cotta is smooth and silky, with a rich dense foie grass mousse piped on top – both have earthy deep flavours, and the truffle and lemon compote on the glass provide a fragrant highlight to the two components. Interestingly the pairing of foie gras and artichoke brings out a green note in the panna cotta, a contrast which was literally mouth-watering – a great play with umami flavours.

Foie gras mousse, Jerusalem artichoke, black truffle, chickweed

The quail breast was perfectly cooked, pink, and the legs kofta were delicately spiced with dukka (an Arabic or Egyptian spice mixture). The veloute, again rich and earthy – echoed the continuing autumnal theme – but also echoing the sweetness of the sauternes preserved alba truffles.

Spiced quail, chestnut gnocchi, pumpkin velouté,
marigold flowers and preserved white truffle

A variation of the smoked egg has been on the menu before, and Alyn’s truffled soldiers were one of the first things I ate at the restaurant when it opened. Here they make a very welcome return, with the slight acidity of the creme fraiche at the bottom of the dish offsetting the richness of the egg.

Smoked egg, with truffled soldiers

Silky coco beans wrapped in a creamy veloute, with soft cod, each distinct in their own way, with finely grated alba truffle – heavenly. The ventreche (pancetta, pork belly, whichever you prefer) provides a little salty crisp. Yes, the cod does have that slightly raw texture you get when cooking in this way, but I’m eating it so often this way at the moment that I barely noticed it.

Slow cooked cod, coco beans, white truffle, Ventreche, casserole

Oh my word… See that little slip of mushroom puree, there in the front? With my finger print in it? Yes… That’s because it’s one of my favourite things ever – pure umami, richly intense, perfect in every way. The beef was tender, there were tiny croutons providing crunchy bursts of sauce-soaked texture, which was rich with madeira and demi-glace. To top it all (and make it a sauce perigourdine), fresh truffles were shaved over the dish at the table.

Devon Ruby beef, sauce perigourdine,
ceps, (and separately, pommes mousseline)

Inevitably there’s always one dish that I begin to eat before I photograph it – and here it was because the smell from the vanilla in the rice pudding and the truffle was quite intoxicating. Your brain can’t quite rationalise the pairing, but your palate is telling you to shut up and eat it! Very unusual combination, the texture of the truffle is slightly incongruous with the soft, sweet grains of rice, but hey, the flavour and scent more than make up for that.

(Partially eaten) Vanilla, white truffle, Devon cream, rice pudding

All my notes say is that pear and truffle are amazing together. No more than that, but with a number of exclamation points. There was a catalan cream, smooth and light, with a pear granita, and softly poached pear… The pine adds an additional spike in the scent, and the sugar shard further texture.

Pear, pine, crème Catalan, black truffle sugar

The real skill in this menu is combining so many truffle elements, whilst remaining true to each dish as an individual entity. Truffles were served in a myriad of ways, and eating at Alyn’s as often as we do, it’s very evident that his menu’s are improving, his experimentation is paying off, and his palate is excellent. (And he gave me a little bit of my favourite miso eel at the beginning of the meal. I could eat that forever!)

This truffle menu is available for a limited time at £180 per head (though having just been to a restaurant where the supplement was £70 per dish, it certainly isn’t overpriced!) The restaurant also offers a tasting menu at £60 per head, and a lunch menu at £25 for three courses. With inspired service from the lovely Gian-Carlo Princi, and a glittery carpet – what more could you ask for?

Alyn Williams at the Westbury
37 Conduit Street
The Westbury Mayfair Hotel
London W1S 2YF

For many years I’ve read one particular Roux recipe with a combination of awe and longing*. The recipe involved carving a hollow into a potato, into which you would insert a truffle. The potato would then be put back together again to be cooked – when ready it would be sliced into 1/8 ths, a little like a boiled egg. I looked at the photo – I could smell the truffle, I knew what a fantastic combination it would make, but I certainly didn’t have a truffle big enough lying around to make this dish – I would have to dream about it for a while…

Fast forward several years and I was given a lovely little truffle as a gift. In additional to scenting some risotto rice (which is an essential part of having a truffle – that, and scenting eggs for the best scrambled eggs ever!), I looked again at the Roux recipe. I concluded it just wouldn’t work unless you were able to be incredibly generous with the truffle – it’s really something you’d need to be able to give to someone individually, or at most to share with one other person. Perhaps that’s just being greedy, but as a generous host, I just don’t feel that I could divide it up between many people :0( So. How to achieve the same results on a much more meagre quantity of truffle?

I thought in the first instance I would try it as a Pommes Anna… There are two quite closely related dishes which produce very different results. In my head Pommes Anna was the creamy gratin, in which layers of finely sliced potato are layered in a dish and covered in a creamy sauce. Of course that’s a dauphinoise gratin, from the Dauphiné region of France. Pommes Anna is simply layered potato with butter, which results in a crisp potato gratin. So, approaching the dish with the wrong process in my head, I layered fine slices of (cooked) potato a little le creuset dish with layers of black truffle and a thickened cream. The result was absolutely delicious, especially when you lift the lid and receive a waft of truffle scent – amazing…

This summer I noticed that Mister Truffle had English summer truffles on his web site, and I thought it would be fun to try them, especially as they are a little cheaper than winter truffles. I ordered a fairly large truffle, and the lovely Mr Truffle very generously sent me an enormous one. Now we were talking! I’d ordered it for a celebratory dinner I was cooking for friends and family, and I thought I would scale up the size of my gratin this time. Whilst the flavour of the creamy dish was lovely, I thought the crispy Pommes Anna would suit the nature of a truffle better, and not swamp the truffle with too many other flavours. So, armed with my huge truffle, I began layering fine layers of raw potato and truffle into a dish, dotting each layer with butter.

The final dish looked fabulous – I brushed the top of the gratin with some truffle oil, and the scent as you ate the dish was amazing. I also warmed the truffle trimmings in the butter before lining the dish, and this increased the scent-load.

I still look at the Roux recipe with longing, but I’m not sure in this economic climate that one could really use truffles in this way. With winter Alba truffles running at £2,900 odd per kilo – truffles remain a rare extravagance. Indeed, at a recent dinner in Ducasse they were charging £36 per plate for tiny quantities of Alba truffles. However if you want to try small quantities of truffle, Mister Truffle will sell you from as little as 1g. If you buy an white truffle though – absolutely don’t cook it like this – it should be finely shaved over a dish at the last possible moment.

* Recipe is from:

Truffles at Alyn Williams…

Truffles and Potatoes…