A month or so ago my good college friend Paul was in New York investigating a new job opportunity and considering a move from his home in Los Angeles. Of course, my advice was completely objective and selfless, but I did take him to the beautiful bar at MOMA’s Modern restaurant to discuss the matter over a couple of their excellent Manhattans. We also ate handfuls of the delicious popcorn served there–snowy white, crisp and light, and subtly flavored with rare, earthy truffles.
He took the job and signed a lease last week. I’m not claiming the glamourous setting, excellent cocktails and truffled popcorn influenced his wise decision, but I’m pretty sure they didn’t hurt my cause either.
I’ve made several attempts at recreating this luxurious bar snack, and I think I’ve finally got it right. Following several recipes, I first doused popcorn with melted butter mixed with truffle oil, and the result was tasty, but too heavy for me. (Substitute linguine for the corn, though, and add grated parmesan, black pepper, salt and some chopped parsley, and I think you’ve got a great pasta course).
Truffle salt is also a great source of that precious fungal flavor, but using enough to make the popcorn adequately truffly made it too salty. I got the best results by layering the truffle flavor. First I popped the corn with plain olive oil spiked with truffle oil. Then I seasoned it with a bit of truffle salt. The popcorn was crisp and light and had a consistent but not overpowering truffle flavor. Persuasively delicious.
Recipe
Ingredients
1/2 cup popcorn kernels (Black Jewell, available at www.amazon.com is my favorite.)
2 Tablespoon olive oil (or canola oil)
2 teaspoons truffle oil (Either white or black truffle oil works well here.)
pinches of truffle salt to taste
Instructions
1. Pour the oils in a large saucepan and swirl to combine.
2. Add two or three kernels of popcorn and heat over medium-high heat until the first kernel pops. Don’t let the oil reach the smoking point.
3. As soon as the first kernel pops, add the rest of the popcorn, cover the pan and shake it from side to side as the corn pops. When the popping has nearly stopped, turn off the heat. When it has stopped completely, uncover the corn and immediately dump it into a large bowl. Toss with pinches of truffle salt to taste and serve.
Both truffle oil and truffle salt are nice ingredients to keep in the pantry. Ounce for ounce, both are expensive, but a little goes a long way. Truffle oil can be found in many good grocery stores and online at www.amazon.com. Look for oil that is flavored with real truffles instead of synthetic substitutes (although some of the synthetically flavored oils are very good). It’s also nice to keep on hand for flavoring pasta dishes and mashed or roasted potatoes. (See my post on chicken and truffled potatoes.)
Truffle salt is less readily available in grocery stores, but can be found at Williams Sonoma and other gourmet food stores, and online at www.williams-sonoma.com. It’s also excellent sprinkled on all kinds of egg dishes.
