Steemit Engagement Challenge S9-W4: “My favorite ingredient”

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Oh man! What an exciting contest!

By now, most of you know that I was a restaurant owner for many years. Most of my time was spent "behind the scenes" and not front of house. No, I was not the chef. I was the one "calling the shots". Keeping tight control on food costs, stock control, ordering stock, and bookkeeping.

Funny enough, it was only when I no longer had the restaurant that I discovered my love for making food and experimenting with it.

Today I will be sharing my favorite ingredient with you.

Truffle, my favorite ingredient

Truffe! Black truffle is by far my favorite ingredient to cook with. Also the dream of many chefs. In South Africa we get the Black Winter truffle.

What is a truffle?

Looks might deceive you as for me a black truffle looks like a piece of charcoal. A piece of rear charcoal, a black diamond in the rough.

The clever people will tell you that a truffle comes from the "ectomycorrhizal fungi". What this means is that it has a rare relationship with the roots of trees where they grow.

They will help the roots absorb the nutrition they need, and in exchange, the roots will provide the sugar truffles need to grow.

Many people confuse truffles with mushrooms. They are not the same thing although they are both classified as fungi. Truffle grows under the ground; mushrooms grow above the ground.

Do they taste the same? Not at all. The taste of a truffle is very strong and it is far more nutty than a mushroom.

Do they smell the same? Again, no. For me, mushrooms don’t have much of a smell, whereas a fresh truffle has a deep "ground broth" smell.

There are three types of truffle known to me and that I have either cooked with or had with a dish:
• Black
• White
• Burgundy

As I’ve mentioned, the black truffle (Perigord truffle) is my favorite.

Truffle stands out from other ingredients for three things;
• It is a must-have culinary ingredient for many chefs
• It will make your dinner guests' mouths drop
• It brings out (enhance) the flavor of a dish

What is amazing about truffle is that it brings out the flavor of the food so much more, especially when you are cooking with ingredients like bruschetta, artichokes, and chocolate.
Chocolate? I can see all those chefs frowning. Believe it or not, truffles and chocolate go together like love and marriage or a horse and carriage.

Do I often use it?

The answer is NO! Truffle is very expensive, and although you can go a long way with it I would rather keep it safe on my shelf and only use it for special occasions.

The price of truffle

Truffle is one of the most expensive ingredients that you can cook with for one simple reason, they are sought after. They are very scarce and not easy to grow.

^{Truffle sauce from my local supermarket}

In South Africa, truffles are grown commercially. It is not easy to grow, as trees must be planted, the alkalinity of the earth must be right, and it can takes 5 to 7 years before it can be harvested. To top it off, dogs must be trained to sniff out the truffles. I was lucky to visit one of these farms a few years ago and was totally amazed how the dogs sniff and the handler then mark the tree with a ribbon.

1 kg of black winter truffle = $721 = R 13,198 (South African Rand) = 3519.91 STEEM

Prices also depend on availability. I have seen truffle prices of way over 10,000 STEEM for 1 kilogram.

As you cannot keep fresh truffles for long and I no longer cook to impress, I make use of truffle oil or truffle sauce which is cheaper. Yes, I suppose it is not the real deal, but it still enhances the flavor of food, suits my pocket much better, and is freely available at my favorite supermarket.

340g black truffle sauce = R 429.90 (South African Rand) = 114.65 STEEM

My favorite truffle recipe

Triffle can be used in many dishes from seafood to pasta, and not to forget meat. A shave or two can turn any dish into a five-star dish.

GRILLED PRAWNS

Although I like to use truffle oil when I cook prawns, I am not going to share a recipe with you as we all know how to cook prawns.

The only difference is that I will fill a syringe with truffle oil and inject a little into the flesh of the prawns after they are grilled them.

Believe me, this only happens when I want to spoil my family as both prawns and truffle oil are expensive.

Of importance is that hubby grills the prawns for us outside on an open grill. I must give him also some credit or he might not forgive me.

PAMPOENKOEKIES

The dish I want to share with you today is a traditional pumpkin dish, "pampoenkoekies" (pumpkin fritters). They are delicious especially when served hot and can be served with any meal. The two men in my family LOVE them the next day in their lunch boxes.

And yes, believe it or not, you can use truffles with vegetables. Truffle sauce is my secret ingredient for making the best "pampoenkoekies" in the world.

If you don’t have truffle, you can replace it with vanilla essence. They are still supper yummy!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked pumpkin (cold and mashed)
• 125 ml of cake flour
• 5 ml of baking powder
• 5 ml of truffle sauce (or vanilla essence)
• 2 eggs
• Salt to taste
• 125 ml cinnamon sugar (125 ml sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon mixed)

Method:

1. Beat the eggs and add them to the mashed pumpkin.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. The dough must not be runny.
3. Warm some oil in a pan.
4. Scoop spoons full of batter and bake it in the oil.
5. Once brown, flip to the other side and let that also brown. When you press lightly with a spoon on the pampoekoekie and it bounces back, it is cooked.
6. Once cooked, drain them from the oil on a kitchen towel and sprinkle them with the cinnamon sugar.

That is how easy it is to make "pampoenkoekies" with a difference.

My Steemian friends, when you are offered something with truffle, don't say no and call yourself lucky.

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