From TasteAtlas, July 12, 2022:
The truffle industry is a big scam. Not just truffle oil, everything
You may be familiar with the truffle oil scam, but everything else you think you know about truffles is probably a lie too.
You probably already know that "truffle-flavored oil" is not made from truffles. It is a cheap oil with added synthetic truffle flavor.
There are several reasons why this is terrible. Synthetic garbage sold as a luxury gourmet item gives customers the idea that truffles have an intense gas-like aroma.
It is a scam because it deceives customers; that is, it falsely represents a product that has nothing to do with truffles and puts all restaurateurs who try to work honestly in an unfavorable position: if you don't flavor truffle dishes with added aromas and flavors that the guests are used to, the naive guests will think you're being cheap and trying to save on their meal.
Everything you think you know about truffles is a lie
What you don't know is that almost everything else named "truffles" is a lie: we don't just mean truffle-flavored chips, ketchup, or chocolate (you can surely taste the artificial aroma), but also tartufata, jar packaged truffles, cheese, and truffle sausages, as well as the vast majority of pasta and "truffle" frittatas in restaurants.Quimet & Quimet is one of the tourists’ favorite tapas bars in Barcelona. Their secret? “Truffle” honey on almost everything. Machneyuda is the biggest hit restaurant in Jerusalem. Their secret: truffle oil in polenta. Every metropolis is packed with stalls selling burgers “with truffles.” Many well-respected pizzerias serve pizzas “with truffles.”
Almost all the restaurants in Croatian Istria serve dishes with a fake truffle aroma, though they shave the decorative truffles on top. Even the otherwise fantastic Eataly offers products “with truffles.” But all that flavor doesn’t come from truffles.
There is no shame in not knowing that. As the best truffles are extremely difficult to find, most chefs and journalists are unaware of this. Even the “experts” hand out awards for this aromatized garbage with only bits of decorative truffles. Almost everything with the truffle label that is available in stores or served in restaurants is a lie and a fraud.
If you think you know what truffles taste like because you had them at restaurants, or you may have prepared something with the products you bought at specialty food stores, you almost certainly still don't know the authentic truffle flavor. The flavor you are familiar with is the added aroma found in all the products labeled as containing "truffles."
There is a good joke: because of sanctions against Russia, the price of tartufata will increase. I may not be objective about the quality of the joke, as I invented it, but the fact is: what is sold as truffle flavor is 2,4-dithiapentane, an organosulfur compound that is naturally found in truffles, and though it is practically impossible to extract it from truffles, it can be extracted from oil.....
....MUCH MORE, he goes deep
But tuna, that's still good, right?
