"Whosoever says truffle, utters a grand word, which awakens erotic and gastronomic ideas...."
Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826)
preface to ‘The Physiology of Taste’ (1825)
Most truffle cocktail recipes you will find will give you a sweet drink that employs chocolate in one way or another. That is because most people know about, and like, chocolate truffles. I'm one of those people and have created several chocolate inspired truffle drinks myself, including my Orange Truffle Martini and a Drunken Oreo Truffle Cocktail. They're delicious, no doubt about it but they're made with chocolate, not actual truffles.
ACTUAL TRUFFLE:
Those cocoa dusted chocolate "truffles" got their name from the "diamond of the kitchen", the edible fruiting body of subterranean Ascomycete fungi, commonly called truffles. These highly prized, very expensive fungi have an earthy, mushroom flavor that is loaded with umami that is highly prized by gourmands and chefs. It also makes truffle a perfect flavor profile for a savory cocktail.
When I discovered there was a vodka infused with black truffles I decided it was time to make an authentic truffle cocktail, one with all that earthy, umami goodness. The Black Moth Vodka is infused with black Périgord truffles and it is not the easiest liquor to get ahold of, in fact their website is no longer operational but you can still find bottles available online. Last time I ordered mine from Total Wine in Henderson, Nevada and had to have a friend pick it up and get it to me because of shipping restrictions in Arizona.
I suspect I'm going to have to infuse my own Black Truffle Vodka next time.
The
BLACK TRUFFLE
MARTINI
INGREDIENTS
2 Oz. Black Moth Truffle Infused Vodka
1/4 Oz. Manzanilla Sherry
Garnish: 3 Cocktail olives stuffed with Truffle Salt infused Cream Cheese
Tools: Cocktail shaker, Strainer, Cocktail pick
Glass: Cocktail (Martini)
DIRECTIONS:
Mix half a teaspoon of the Truffle Salt into 1/4 cup of soft cream cheese then stuff this into green olives. Dip the cheese end of the olive lightly into more truffle salt. Slide these onto a cocktail pick.
Combine the ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker and shake until well-chilled.
Strain into your chilled cocktail glass, garnish and serve.
You'll note I used a dry sherry instead of vermouth. This is because I did not like the botanicals in the vermouth combined with the truffle flavor in the vodka. It's often fun to experiment with different fortified wines for a unique martini style cocktail. Manzanilla Sherry comes from a Seaside area and brings an interesting salty tang to the cocktail which, I think, complements the truffle.
