“The diamond of the kitchen”: that’s how famous 19th-century French gourmet Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin called the truffle, a type of fungi that’s been praised by gastronomes for its flavour for more than 4000 years. Good news then for all of those who have a fondness for this rare delicacy that Italian truffle specialist Tartufi & Friends has opened a new truffle lounge and restaurant at Harrod’s: not a cheap treat -as those products rarely are- but a great treat nonetheless, for the quality of the products and its innovative menu.
As food goes, truffles make for some great trivia… Many will know already know, the female pig’s natural truffle-seeking is due to a compound within the truffle similar to the sex pheromone found in male pigs’ saliva, to which the sow is keenly attracted. But did you know that this chemical is also secreted by men in their underarm sweat? I didn’t, and found it maybe not very appealing but quite interesting. Other things I didn’t know included the fact that the use of pigs to hunt truffles is now prohibited in Italy, due to the tendency of the lusty sows to eat the truffle, hence their replacement since 1985 by specially trained dogs. And that there are now specially planted truffles growing areas in the UK, the States, Sweden, New Zealand and Chile? I didn’t until I visited Tartufi & Friends yesterday and looked at the history of truffle…
But anyway… While the history of truffle is fascinating, let’s go back to what matters: the food itself. And the offer at Tartufi & Friends is really impressive. It doesn’t come cheap, due to the rarity of the products, but the flavours are perfect, thanks to the quality of the ingredients. Classic but exquisite were the Burrata with honey and truffle (£18), as well as the freshly handmade pasta with pecorino and fresh truffle (£29), while the yellowfin tuna tartare with fresh truffle (£28) was innovative and worked surprisingly well. My only regret: not having tasted the cocktails, and in particular the Truffle Martini (coffee, cacao liquor, truffle honey, slices of truffle) and the Signature Margarita (tequila, lime, white truffle salt) as it was a bit early in the day to get tipsy. But they seemed worth a visit on their own. Until next then…
