How Do You Cook With Truffle Oil?

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How do you cook with truffle oil? Long answer short, you don't. Truffle oil isn't for cooking, it's a finishing oil, like the higher grades of olive oil used to add more flavor to a dish before serving. If you cook truffle oil, it just became super-expensive regular olive oil cause you killed all the fake truffle.

Most people are already aware of the fact that the oil in the bottle you just broke out the credit card for is not pressed from truffles. Many are aware that the oil is in fact olive, and is only flavored by truffles. One sadder step further: it's not actually flavored by truffles. But mine has a shred of black truffle at the bottom! Sucker. You're tasting 2,4-dithiapentane — a synthesized concoction which imitates the strongest odors in the very complex truffle scent. Very few of these oils utilize actual truffle essence at all. Here's one that does, tried-and-true from our editors.

After your dish is finished cooking, i.e. off the heat, out of the oven never to return, nowhere near the broiler, toss or drizzle it with a small amount of truffle oil — we're talking a teaspoon or less for two servings — and eat it ASAP.

More truffle information on Food Republic: