Taste With The Eyes: French Black Winter Truffle GIVEAWAY!

1.11.2010

French Black Winter Truffle GIVEAWAY!

Gorgonzola with Truffle Honey

The wonderful folks at Gourmet Attitude have generously offered Taste With The Eyes the opportunity to host a GIVEAWAY of one French Black Winter Truffle! Merci Beaucoup! It is intensely fragrant and the most cherished of them all, the Queen of French Truffles, Tuber melanosporum, also known as the Périgord Truffle.

Regrettably I don't happen to have a "fresh black diamond from the earth" on hand today to prepare for this GIVEAWAY, but the next best thing is truffle infused products, like their sensual truffle honey which we paired with gorgonzola and toasted ciabatta, and Champagne!

Céline Labaune's Gourmet Attitude in Manhattan imports the highest quality fresh truffles. She recently launched a line of truffle delicacies called "la BOUTIQUE de la truffe" which includes Truffle Carpaccio, Truffle Honey, and White Truffle Cream. We paired their Truffle Honey with panko-crusted chicken and grilled apples awhile back, it was truffle heaven! You can shop for fresh truffles, truffle products, and gifts here.

The Italian Truffle Honey is made of acacia honey and white truffles. This truffle honey gives the chicken and grilled apples complex intriguing flavors. Simultaneously sweet and earthy and exotic. It rocks!

"the truffle is the very diamond of gastronomy"

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826)

The GIVEAWAY truffle (weighing approx. 30g) can be shipped in the USA only. But dear international readers, you can still take part! Do you have a friend, family member or blogger friend living in the US? Now, wouldn't a French Black Truffle make an awesome winter gift from you? Ooh La La!

When Curnonsky (1872-1956), the Prince of Gastronomes, was asked how he liked his truffles, he replied, "In large quantities, Madame. In large quantities."

To participate in the GIVEAWAY simply leave a comment on this post. If you are so inclined, tell us about your truffle fantasy or fabulous truffle recipe. The contest will be open through midnight January 24, 2010 PST. The winner will be chosen at random (one chance per person) using random.org. Your truffle will be shipped from New York City, FedEx overnight.

"Over the years, Céline Labaune has been constantly seeking to source the highest quality truffles; her diligence and expertise truly set her apart."

Chef Grant Achatz – ALINEA

Fresh Black Winter Truffle

Tuber melanosporum vittadini

Available: December to March
Shape: more or less round. size varies from an hazelnut to an orange, typically 2 to 3 oz.
Skin: small pyramid shaped warts, black with sometimes dark brown patches
Flesh: first white, then gray and eventually black at maturity with a hint of purple and with distinctive white veins, crunchy and soft
Perfume: intense, wet forest, humus, chocolate, hint of hazelnut

Bonne Chance!

BONNE CHANCE!

UPDATE: 1/25/10

There were exactly 100 comments.

Thank you all for your participation!

CONGRATULATIONS TO CHRISTINE OF FRESH LOCAL AND BEST BLOG, WINNER OF THE FRENCH BLACK WINTER TRUFFLE. AND MANY THANKS TO GOURMET ATTITUDE FOR SPONSORING THIS FABULOUS GIVEAWAY!

Christine said, "This is a great giveaway! There are so many great way to incorporate truffles into dishes, they add a divine flavor!"

Christine,

We can't wait to read about your truffle creations

on FRESH LOCAL AND BEST!

Congratulations!

Julia Child Quotes - TOUJOURS BON APPETIT!

“You should never apologize at the table. People will think, ‘Yes, it’s really not so good.'"

"In France, cooking is a serious art form and a national sport."

"It's easy to get the feeling that you know the language just because when you order a beer they don't bring you oysters." Paul Child on speaking French

"I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate. "

"Life itself is the proper binge."

"It was a Morsel of Perfection."

"I was in pure, flavorful heaven at the Cordon Bleu."

Julia Child sees herself on TV, July 1962, she saw room for improvement, and still she can say it was fun : "There I was, in black and white, a large woman sloshing eggs too quickly here, too slowly there, gasping, looking at the wrong camera while talking too loudly and so on...But it had been fun."

She has her own opinions on kitchen equipment: "Clairborne sniffed at our use of a garlic press, 'a gadget considered in some circles to be only one cut above garlic salt or garlic powder.' I happened to like garlic presses..."

Understanding Julia's captivation by French food: "This is the kind of food that I have fallen in love with: not trendy souped-up fantasies, just something very good to eat. It was classic French cooking, where the ingredients have been carefully selected and beautifully and knowingly prepared. Or, in the words of the famous gastronome Curnonsky, 'Food that tastes of what it is.' "

"You never forget a beautiful thing that you have made. Even after you eat it, it stays with you - always." Julia's instructor, Chef Bugnard at Le Cordon Bleu

"Oh, 'crise de foie,' that French sole was so delicious!"

Julia's passion comes through loud and clear as she describes a fish dish: "La Truite's true glory was the Sole a la Normande, a poem of poached and flavored sole fillets surrounded by oysters, and mussels, and napped with a wonder-sauce of wine, cream, and butter, and topped with fluted mushrooms. 'Voluptuous' was the word. I had never imagined that fish could be taken so seriously, or taste so heavenly."

Julia's unique way with words, on Crepes Suzette: "The creature named Suzette may or may not have been the mistress of the Prince of Wales, but whoever she was, she long ago inspired a magnificent dessert that is still one of our favorites."

"I am probably one of the few people around who saw the real Caesar Cardini making his salad. I was about 9 when my parents took me to his restaurant in Tijuana. They were so excited when big jolly Caesar himself came to the table to make the salad. And it was dramatic: I remember most clearly the eggs going in, and how he tossed the leaves so it looked like a wave turning over."

"With a handsome package such as Jacques's, you can neatly cut the top open at the table with a pair of scissors..." Julia on Salmon en Papillote

"There's no reason to be intimidated by the idea of making pâté. You can just think of it as meat loaf."

From Julia's dear friend Jacques Pepin, "You are what you cook."

"Understanding egg yolks will make you a master of hollandaise sauce."

Julia encouraging us not to be intimidated: "When you know how to saute your meat so it browns rather than steams, you're cooking. What's difficult about that? You heat the pan, you dry the meat, you don't crowd it into the pan, and you're browning it. Is that difficult?"

Food Quotes

"Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch."

Orson Welles

"Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are."
Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

"Chefs, as a whole, say yes to any project, fundraiser, or tasting because they have such a generous spirit."
Charlie Trotter

"Once you understand the foundations of cooking - whatever kind you like, whether it's French or Italian or Japanese - you really don't need a cookbook anymore. "
Thomas Keller

"I love to make people happy."
Wolfgang Puck

"Fish sauce is to Vietnamese cooking as olive oil is to Italian."

The Little Saigon Cookbook by Ann Le

"I wish, I wish lunch could last forever...waiter, bring us one more bottle of wine..."

Jimmy Buffett

"My philosophy from day one is that I can sleep better at night if I can improve an individual's knowledge about food and wine, and do it on a daily basis."
Emeril Lagasse

"Gordon Ramsay makes me laugh because he knows that I'm not a chef."
Nigella Lawson

"You know, when you get your first asparagus, or your first acorn squash, or your first really good tomato of the season, those are the moments that define the cook's year. I get more excited by that than anything else."
Mario Batali

"I always knew the importance of it, since I was three or four years old my mother used to feed me wine and water. I grew up with wine as liquid food."
Robert Mondavi

"No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at his/her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, and the wisdom of cookbook writers."
Laurie Colwin

"Food is a central part of our lives. It provides the body with fuel and raw materials for maintenance, growth, and repair. It draws together family and friends, anchors celebrations and rites of passage, and sometimes soothes the soul."
Ethan Becker