Backtrack to California, Valentine's weekend: I was subjected to pairing wine with a slice of Dubliner cheese with a sprinkling of truffle salt. It was an interesting way to pair an overpriced salt...or so I thought. The pairing (okay, this was at the 12th or 13th winery of the day) was genius, price point aside.
You ever have an "obsessive dream" where you dream about well, a type of food, wine, clothing, haircut and you wake up and you know you have to have it? Maybe it's the woman in me talking, but 3 months later, I was dreaming of truffle salt. I had to have it. Cringing when I saw the amazon.com price, I closed my eyes, bought some tennis balls to get the shipping free and voila, I now have truffle salt at hand.
Let me tell you - truffle salt smells like dirty feet. Don't listen to ANYONE try to tell you anything different. Actually, the stink is closer to feet that were perhaps unwashed after a jaunt in a swamp combined with a trek through the amazon in construction boots. Yes. It's that bad. You have a sensitive nose, you'll agree, it's just plain devastating how disgusting it is. I don't know how I missed that point when we were tasting (recall, 12 or 13 wineries came before) but I did. If you are faint of nose, maybe pinch it when you crack open a jar but don't let the smell deter you. It is a WONDERFUL pairing with cheese and almost any red wine. I'm not drinking anything special at the moment, actually it's Black Box Shiraz (until the husband comes home and we can share something spectacular), but the little jar of stinkiness opens the palate (it's salt recall) and the truffle comes through, holding hands with even the cheapest of wine.
Cheers!
