"Truffle" oil, cuisine's nasty little secret

Oh dear, I just read in the paper that "Truffle" oil doesn't contain truffles at all, but rather a chemical compound called 2,4-dithiapentane. The story came out of the NY Times and can be read here.

This story does not surprise me, and for some time I have suspected this might be the case. A few years ago I began ordering truffles from Oregon. I began making my own truffle oil with the truffles I didn't immediately eat. I noticed that 1) I could never get that intense truffle aroma found in purchased oils and 2) the truffle aroma dissipated fairly quickly from my homemade oil as opposed to purchased truffle oils.

I never researched my suspicions. Maybe I didn't want to know the truth, maybe I just didn't have time. I stopped purchasing truffle oil and became a little more careful about making my own.

Here is my recipe:
1) Put 6 -8 small, ripe truffles in a quart of excellent EVOO.
2) Place in a cool, dark place for three weeks, shaking occasionally.
3) Keep this bottle of truffled olive oil in the refrigerator and decant small portions to be kept at room temperature and used as needed. This bottle lasts about a year until the next crop of truffles can be ordered.


(Here is my previous post on truffled eggs.)