Black (or white) gold

I finally broke down and bought myself a bottle of truffle oil over at Corti Brothers (5810 Folsom Boulevard). It’s essentially olive oil infused with black or white truffles. It is also crazy expensive: 20 bucks for about 6 ounces of the stuff. Holy. Balls. I swear to God, I could actually hear my debit card whimper as I swiped it through. Still, I used it on some homemade pizza with portobello mushrooms, salami and robiola cheese. A small drizzle of oil took the pizza from merely good to sweet-tap-dancing-Christ-that’s-amazing pizza.

Still, I wasn’t all that sure what to do with the rest of it. What could justify the purchase of this premium product? One friend suggested sprinkling it over an omelet filled with taleggio cheese. Another novel idea put forward was tossing freshly popped popcorn with a bit of the truffle oil and some finely grated hard cheese. Chickpea or mushroom soup can benefit from a short swirl of the stuff. A local food blogger reminded me that mashed potatoes or fries are simply perfect with it. And lastly, with all the fresh tomatoes, basil and zucchini in season, you could easily give some freshly made bruschetta some razzle-dazzle with a lashing of this earthy oil.