With a texture and taste something like grated hazelnut but far softer and earthier, the extremely scarce Italian white Alba truffle, often known as white gold, is at peak perfection in November, with some restaurants offering all-truffle menus. Truffle expert Leonardo Terzigli of Crete Senesi, who supplies top London restaurants, says, ‘Due to global warming, truffles are becomingly increasingly scarce, but this year’s rainfall should ensure a more fruitful supply than 2007, when prices reached around £4,000 per kilo.’ Terzigli advises that a good truffle should have aromas redolent of garlic, honey and flowers with hints of Parmesan and wet soil.
In London, Belgravia foodie haunt Zafferano (+44 (0)20 7235 5800, zafferanorestaurant.com) is offering a four-course truffle menu (from £120), which includes truffle fonduta, risotto and salt marsh lamb in hazelnut crust with truffle polenta. At the elegant Greenhouse in Mayfair (+44 (0)20 7499 3331, greenhouserestaurant.co.uk), Antonin Bonnet’s truffle offerings include langoustines with white truffle, coco bean bouillon and Dover sole with hazelnuts, ceps, lime and truffled creamed polenta. Truffle-tasting menus start at £150.
As executive chef of the Ritz (+44 (0)20 7493 8181, theritzlondon.com), John Williams’s passion for truffles is evident in luxurious dishes like salad of ceps and duck egg, classic tagliatelle and even truffled desserts including bread and butter pudding and panna cotta.
Clement Bruno’s name is synonymous with truffles in France. At Restaurant Bruno in Lorgues, near Nice (+33 (04) 94 85 93 93), a six-course truffle menu starts from £80 while at his Parisian bistro-store Terres de Truffes (+33 (01) 53 43 80 44) diners can graze on snacks such as foie gras and truffle sandwiches.
But the ultimate truffle experience has to be the two-night truffle weekend at Hotel Principe di Savoia in Milan (+ 39 (02) 6230 5555, hotelprincipedisavoia.com), which includes a truffle kitchen master class with chef Fabrizio Cadei, truffle dinners at Acanto restaurant, as well as truffle-hunting and wine-tasting in Alba. Packages are tailor-made and start at £1,196 per couple. Prices for all truffle menus are dependent on auction price.
