Tartufi Bianchi (White Truffles) at Lusso

Can you get intoxicated with food? I believe so.

I found out through a friend's repost on Facebook that Chef Margarita Forés was serving white truffles from Acqualgna, Italy in two of her restaurants; Pepato and Lussso. Being a big fan and user of truffle sauce in a jar (Salsa Tartfata al Funghi), I was always very curious on tasting the real thing, I didn't waste any time making a reservation at Lusso.

We asked the waiter how the truffles were going to be served, he said it would be shaved on three items: The Lusso Foie Gras Burger, The Spinach Tagliarini with asiago and parma and the three egg omelette.

We started dinner with some lumpfish caviar foam, simply caviar with foam made from cream cheese with some fine potato chips. Simply delectable.

My first bite of a small piece of white truffle didn't amount to anything. It was just texture and hardly any taste but then I realized that the truffle needs to be mixed with other items for its aroma to be released. Usually, that is cream, eggs and cheese, considered the truffle's best friends. My first bite of the pasta (which was already garnished with some truffle sauce).....wow! Apparently, truffles are very rich in glutamatic acid or 'Umami'. The compound that enhances flavors in other foods. The one that makes our tongues salivate. In case you didn't know, truffles are found under the soil by female pigs and/or trained dogs. Female pigs find it because there is a chemical compound which gives the truffles its aroma which is also the same compound found in the saliva of the male pig! I remember watching a show on the Asian Food Network where two men went truffle hunting with a female pig. The female pig went wild when the two men were eating it with some eggs and cheese. They could not restrain the pig. Hence the aphrodisiac lore of truffles. No wonder its taste is orgasmic.

We were three and we shared each order amongst ourselves. Every dish was already a stand out on its own (I believe the Lusso burger is one of the best in the city) but the white truffle just kicked it up many many notches higher. The truffle was best on the pasta and i suspect the truffle sauce had something to do with it. The food was an umami trip at its finest. We were quiet at the beginning of the main course which is always a good sign. A bit later, the quiet turned into slight moans and gasps and "ooohs" and "aaahhs", you get where i'm going, the flavor of truffle is really a bit sensual.

To top it off, we had some ice cream made with truffle oil and topped with truffle sauce. This was very remarkable and something that I didn't expect; truffle flavor on dessert. W-O-W!

See the photo? Tell me there is no sexual connotation.

Lusso

Ground Floor Greenbelt 5

Legaspi Street, Legaspi Village

Makati City

Philippines

Tel: +63 2 7565893

Another Burger Post

I have an oversupply of beef fat from the restaurant. Our rib-eyes have their lips on (the fatty part at the end of a rib eye) and sometimes the lip is 100% fat. We need to trim this lip mainly because our steaks will burn since too much fat will produce too much flame inside the broiler.

So what do I do with all this fat? Add it to some lean ground hand-chopped tenderloin and make it into burgers. This time around, I cooked the burger medium, around 3 minutes per side. I cooked it above medium rare because the rib eye fat is harder to digest compared to bone marrow which I used in the past two burger posts. Verdict: This version is very good and could be compared to some of the best burgers in Manila, but the marrowed burger is still tops. The burger was still juicy and like the other burgers, the juice comes from both the meat and the fat, but it lacked the mouth-watering orgasmic rolling eyes feel from the almost buttery taste of marrow. In conclusion, bone marrow tastes better than beef fat, even from a prime grade aged beef.

Pasta with Truffle Mushroom Cream Sauce

Sautee onions or shallots in butter

Add some mushrooms (optional)

Add some chicken stock (optional)

Add some cream

Reduce

season with salt and pepper.

Add some truffle sauce

After mixing in the pasta, you can garnish with some parmesan cheese and chopped parsley.

Finished!

Without chicken stock, the sauce may be too rich but some people prefer a very rich sauce. You can do without the mushrooms but they make the sauce much flavorful. You can use any pasta for this. Eaten with a piece of chicken, roast, grilled or pan fried, is wonderful. Pork or veal will also be a good accompaniment with it.

This is a variation of the chicken with truffled mushroom cream sauce. Instead of adding the sauce on the chicken, i mix the sauce with the pasta. There's also no white wine on this variation.

Chicken with Truffle Mushroom Sauce and Potato Gnocchi

This recipe had a long time of evolution. At first, I stuffed the chicken thigh with minced mushrooms and added some truffle oil in the stuffing, i then realized that cooking the truffle oil makes the truffle taste disappear. Then I was inspired by a dish that I learned from my advanced short course at Aubergine/ISCAHM, the Pan-Fried Veal Loin with Truffled Morel Sauce. I tried to make a dish a bit frugal by using chicken and fresh mushrooms instead of the expensive veal and morel mushroom.


Ahead of time, I deboned a whole chicken and used the bones to make a dark chicken stock by roasting the bones for over an hour in high heat (around 400F). I then simmered the bones in water for over another hour.

I then start roasting the boneless chicken pieces. I marinate them with some chopped fresh tarragon and some coarsely chopped garlic. I roast them for around 20 minutes at a 350F.


While the chicken is roasting, I make the mushroom sauce. I sauteé some onions in butter and then add sliced mushrooms (here I use imported white button and baby portabello). I then add some white wine and reduce (I then strain the mushrooms and set aside so it won't overcook). I then add the white wine, reduce then I add some dark chicken stock. I use around a fourth of a cup of wine, making sure not to add too much because the sauce can become too sour. I use around a cup of stock and around half a cup of cream. When reduced to the right consistency, i add a spoonful of the magical truffle sauce at the last minute. This mushroom cream sauce is similar to that used in the burger post but since it's a chicken dish, I use chicken stock instead of beef stock.

You may think that there's a lot of work in this dish. Cooking requires a lot of patience and you could use chicken powder for your stock but it just won't do. The extra work in cooking is always rewarded with better taste and I believe shortcuts will compromise the taste and the integrity of the dish. Sometimes though there are some shortcuts that will work such as the packaged De Cecco Potato Gnocchi. This packaged gnocchi tastes very much like it was freshly made. This is available at Bacchus Epicerie at Powerplant. After boiling the gnocchi in salted water (it only takes two minutes to cook!) I slightly sautee them in butter.

I had some leftover blanched spinach, fortunately as that would require time stemming and blanching and refreshing in ice water. There are two ways of plating the dish as you can see. I garnish the dish with some truffle foam (hot milk, truffle sauce and use a hand blender) and tarragon. The foam is really an option to give the dish an added elegance. Rule of thumb, always garnish the dish with things that your diner can eat the dish with.


Here we go, a nice elegant dish that is not very expensive. After having both the breast and the leg and thigh, i realized the breast was a bit dry. I would suggest to roast only the leg and I would pan-fry or grill the breast next time. The wine to pair this with: an inexpensive La Terre Chardonnay from California, not too fruity and buttery, perfect compliment to the creaminess of the dish.