On Tuesday, my manager and I spent the morning at the Speciality Fine Food Fair. It was fabulous. There were tons and tons and tons of stands where producers had little tasters of their product and you could chat to them about the possibility of stocking their product in your shop.
It was in Kensington Olympia, which is massive. It took us about four hours to walk all the way around it and see every stand. There were these fabulous chocolate sculptures at one end…
… And beautifully crafted Italian pasta at the other…
…and Brie in the shape of the Eiffel Tower…
We went up and down the rows, up and down, up and down, nibbling on anything which was held out to us. The order that we nibbled was something like this:
Pannetone
Pasta
Chocolate
Truffle honey
Crackers
Ice cream
More ice cream
Salmon
Cheese biscuit
Parma ham
Bread dipped into truffle oil
Chocolate
Biltong
Granola
Brie
Chocolate
Cracker with chutney
Walnut and apricot bread
Strawberry yoghurt sweets
Freshly made pumpkin ravioli
Italian pastry with ricotta cream
Ice cream
Parma ham
Black truffle butter
White truffle butter
White truffle butter
Black truffle butter
White truffle butter…..
After this point, my memory becomes blurry because this truffle butter was A. MAY. ZING.
Let me explain my position on truffles, prior to this day: “Truffles are ok but if anything, they’re not that tasty. They don’t taste of much.” I had had truffles a few times in restaurants, where they were just shaved onto things that didn’t really do anything to showcase its fantasticness. “What’s all the fuss about?” was my general opinion of truffles.
And then I went to the Fine Food Fair. And everything changed. There were SO many truffle stands so I tasted eveything that it is possible to do with a truffle. And I have to say, I am definitely on the Truffle Bandwagon. This truffle butter…. I can’t even explain. It was phenomenal. I was spreading it onto the plainest cracker in the world. A Jacobs water cracker thing. Boring. But with this black truffle butter spread on it, it was the food of the gods! I bet that Jacobs cracker couldn’t believe its luck when it got to sit on the truffle stand.
After a point (when I’d been munching crackers and truffle butter for a tad too long and the people on the stand were looking over at me warily), we had to walk away…. And suddenly I knew that if I had any children and the truffle butter producers asked for one in exchange for a stick of the truffle butter, I would make the swap without a second’s thought.
“Push that child in front of the bus,” say the truffle men.
“Yes, truffle men,” I say, salivating at the truffle butter in their hands. I push the child in front of the bus and hold my hands out for my prize.
“Give us your house,” the truffle men say. “Go and live under a bridge somewhere.”
“Yes, truffle men,” I say, handing over the keys and taking the stick of butter. That night, I am found in the exact same spot, hugging my truffle butter while it slowly melts and smiling to myself as I lick my fingers.
“We want all your money,” the truffle men say.
“Yes, truffle men,” and I hand over my bank cards and pin numbers.
I’ve thought about going online to look up the company and do a bulk order of truffle butter, to see me through the next few months but I’m worried about opening that Pandora’s Box. I already have quite an obsessive nature. It could get silly. I’d be putting it with everything. Cereal, cups of tea, ice cream, fruit. I daydream about eating crackers full of it but am worried about the reality.
What should I do? I’m having a truffle dilemma here! I so want the truffles, but it could be a dangerous road to start down….
Posted by Read Stuff With Me! on September 6, 2012 at 05:01
Wow! You made me feel hungry! I’d say eat a lot of truffle butter..morning and afternoon and evening and night and one day things will change:You’ll get bored with it. Problem solved π
Posted by lazylauramaisey on September 6, 2012 at 05:29
I think you could be on to something there!
Posted by Alex Jones on September 6, 2012 at 05:35
Food heaven.
Posted by Carrie on September 6, 2012 at 10:20
Agreed! And great pictures! π
Posted by lazylauramaisey on September 6, 2012 at 13:24
Thanks. It was amazing, guys. I ate a ridiculous amount.
Posted by mylifeisthebestlife on September 6, 2012 at 15:18
GO. Order it now. Order LOTS of it. Send some to a lovely Canadian pregnant woman because you made her hungry and that’s not fair.
Posted by lazylauramaisey on September 6, 2012 at 16:06
Ok. If I HAVE to. But when I start licking the stick of truffle butter like a lolly, can I say you made me do it? If I find the exact company which makes it, I’ll check if they deliver to Canada and let you know!
Posted by mylifeisthebestlife on September 6, 2012 at 16:14
You can blame me all day long…I have broad shoulders and can handle it.
Posted by Maggie O'C on September 6, 2012 at 17:48
I want your job! And to go visit all that food!
Posted by lazylauramaisey on September 7, 2012 at 05:43
Yeh, there are some pretty good perks!
Posted by rambler5319 on September 7, 2012 at 08:10
I’d say check your belt and make sure there’s at least one extra hole that you can use. Sounds like you will defo need it!!
Posted by lazylauramaisey on September 7, 2012 at 08:21
I anticipated disaster and wore loose fitting clothing so I didn’t have to feel bad when my trousers started to pinch!
Posted by Yaya’s Meltdown « lazylauramaisey on September 15, 2012 at 05:41
[…] Very exciting news. Following the Food Fair last week, at which we discovered truffle butter, the manager is considering stocking it. I am delirious with […]
Posted by Espresso, ice cream and truffles « lazylauramaisey on September 20, 2012 at 05:32
[…] doing tasters of white truffle butter with crackers and was transported back a few weeks ago to my amazing truffle experience in London. Danda turned up his nose at this heart-stoppingly beautiful truffle butter and located instead […]
Posted by Reflections on Rome « lazylauramaisey on September 23, 2012 at 06:57
[…] On the truffle front, do you remember when I went mental on discovering the truffle butter at the Fine Food Fair? […]
Posted by Maggie’s End-of-Year Multi-Media Hyphenastic Extravaganza! « Someone Fat Happened on December 28, 2012 at 18:33
[…] a ginger-infused-vodka hangover? It was the best thing I have ever made in my life. If I had some truffle butter, God knows what I could […]
Posted by lazylauramaisey on December 29, 2012 at 13:49
Maggie, have you not had truffle butter before?! Ridiculous. Let me send you some. Send me your address – maisey23@googlemail.com.
Posted by O, I do like to be beside the sea | lazylauramaisey on September 29, 2013 at 06:23
[…] We had the same starter, a leek and potato soup with white truffle cream. My goodness, do I love a truffle! I love a truffle. I went crazy for this soup. It was really really good with some of the fresh […]