La Boutique de la Truffe

To celebrate special occasions, we've been fortunate to dine at restaurants like Per Se and The French Laundry and hope to one day be able to save enough in order to check out Alinea, Daniel, Le Bernardin, and Masa.

So when we received a package from the woman who ships truffles (the mushroom-type, not the chocolate) to all of these restaurants, we were ecstatic!  Since 2003, Manhattan-based Celine Labaune has been importing truffles for chefs like Thomas Keller.  She has now launched La Boutique de la Truffe which features products that easily enabled us to make a 5 star dinner at home.

 

We received the Truffle Honey ($19) - once we opened it, we were hit with a rich, truffle fragrance.  We decided to pair it with a salty meat and earthy cheese.  We sliced a baguette, grilled it with olive oil, and topped it with blue brie cheese, a thin slice of speck (prosciutto), and drizzled the Truffle Honey on top.  

 

We only needed a little bit of the honey as it was full of flavor.  The truffle adds a nice dimension and complexity to the honey.  Since we have so much left over, we will likely use the La Boutique de la Truffe Truffle Honey to baste pork or chicken or to drizzle it over ice cream or fruit.

We also received a jar of La Tartufata ($27) or White Truffle Cream.  We decided to mix it with some pasta water, oil, and cream to make a rich pasta sauce.  This went well with the fresh egg pasta we bought at Raffetto's in the West Village.

 

Lighted a candle, poured ourselves a glass of wine, and enjoyed an almost-instant haute cuisine dinner chez us.

La Boutique de la Truffe products are available online as well as at the following local gourmet stores:
Grace's Marketplace
Raffetto's
Get Fresh Table and Market
Marlow and Daughters