Toe-Curling Flavors #2 - Truffle Butter - Truffle Salt

Dieters, we must unite! We are under attack by our reptilian past. It wants to dine. It wants to bring that spoon to my lips, pry open my jaw and fill my belly with the nearest, stickiest calorie. I have clamped my mouth shut. I have even covered it with my hand...and some tape... and some magic marker saying 'No'. But it's the second week of February, it's snowing and between you and me that toffee bar and pasta is a heck of a lot closer than bathing suit weather. I need help... I must combat the need for sweet!

Whew! Can I peek my eyes now? The craving has passed, but not without
a little assistance. I have beaten it back with the rarified flavor of truffles. Now I can guess what you're thinking... must be nice to feed myself such luxuries. What's next? A steak covered in gold leaf?

But guess what, truffles might be the high priced fare of pomp and circumstance most of the time, but in today's world there are options that bring this heady fungus down to earth. I give you - truffle butter and truffle salt.

The way I see it, a large part of dieting failure is about depravation. When we say no to ice cream, or cake or soda or whatever that thing is that you know is bad for you but you just don't want to let go, we go to war with ourselves. The body will miss it's old lovely comforts. It will complain that you are being mean and you never do anything nice for it. It will not listen to reason.

But that does not mean that it will not listen period. To get around this stubbornness of the flesh, I have begun to ply my palate with savory delights that tell my body I love it enough to give it a treat. Shhhhh... don't tell... I have tricked my taste buds and my brain. I can't afford to shell out the cash for a whole truffle to slice over my morning eggs today, much less everyday for the next 3 months, but the miracle of the modern food supply system has provided me with cost effective options that pack the aroma punch (which is what truffles are really good for anyway) but go a lot lighter on the pocket book.

In my area Wegmans I discovered truffle butter, for a few dollars cheaper than that there Amazon price. It has lasted for going on 2 months, and has pretty good flavor. See...

Oh god that was good, and it made that once daily piece of bread something really special. Unfortunately I am trying to lower my carbs even further, so I was thrilled to find the truffle salt as an amazon suggestion...they just get me. 

The salt is lasting much longer, and it is more flexible. It's good on eggs and salad and pasta if that works for you. It's also good on steamed veggies and I've even added it to soup just as I serve it. While it is vastly more expensive than plain salt, as a treat it is a great deal. I expect this small tub to last well into the summer. No comparable box of chocolates would make it that long, that's for sure.

One cavet on this brand. The lid does not seal, and the heady fragrance of the truffles is diminishing. This is bad because the magic of truffles is not in their flavor or their texture it is in their exquisite scent. Next time I will be trying the Casina Rossa pot. While it does have a slightly higher price, it also has a higher truffle content and a tight seal lid. Are you hungry yet? Tell me how it goes. I love stories!