Steemit Engagement Challenge S9-W4: “My favorite ingredient”
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Oh man! What an exciting contest!
By now, most of you know that I was a restaurant owner for many years. Most of my time was spent "behind the scenes" and not front of house. No, I was not the chef. I was the one "calling the shots". Keeping tight control on food costs, stock control, ordering stock, and bookkeeping.
Funny enough, it was only when I no longer had the restaurant that I discovered my love for making food and experimenting with it.
Today I will be sharing my favorite ingredient with you.
Truffle, my favorite ingredient |
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Truffe! Black truffle is by far my favorite ingredient to cook with. Also the dream of many chefs. In South Africa we get the Black Winter truffle.
What is a truffle? |
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Looks might deceive you as for me a black truffle looks like a piece of charcoal. A piece of rear charcoal, a black diamond in the rough.
The clever people will tell you that a truffle comes from the "ectomycorrhizal fungi". What this means is that it has a rare relationship with the roots of trees where they grow.
They will help the roots absorb the nutrition they need, and in exchange, the roots will provide the sugar truffles need to grow.
Many people confuse truffles with mushrooms. They are not the same thing although they are both classified as fungi. Truffle grows under the ground; mushrooms grow above the ground.
Do they taste the same? Not at all. The taste of a truffle is very strong and it is far more nutty than a mushroom.
Do they smell the same? Again, no. For me, mushrooms don’t have much of a smell, whereas a fresh truffle has a deep "ground broth" smell.
There are three types of truffle known to me and that I have either cooked with or had with a dish:
• Black
• White
• Burgundy
As I’ve mentioned, the black truffle (Perigord truffle) is my favorite.
Truffle stands out from other ingredients for three things;
• It is a must-have culinary ingredient for many chefs
• It will make your dinner guests' mouths drop
• It brings out (enhance) the flavor of a dish
What is amazing about truffle is that it brings out the flavor of the food so much more, especially when you are cooking with ingredients like bruschetta, artichokes, and chocolate.
Chocolate? I can see all those chefs frowning. Believe it or not, truffles and chocolate go together like love and marriage or a horse and carriage.
Do I often use it? |
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The answer is NO! Truffle is very expensive, and although you can go a long way with it I would rather keep it safe on my shelf and only use it for special occasions.
The price of truffle |
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Truffle is one of the most expensive ingredients that you can cook with for one simple reason, they are sought after. They are very scarce and not easy to grow.
Truffle sauce from my local supermarket
In South Africa, truffles are grown commercially. It is not easy to grow, as trees must be planted, the alkalinity of the earth must be right, and it can takes 5 to 7 years before it can be harvested. To top it off, dogs must be trained to sniff out the truffles. I was lucky to visit one of these farms a few years ago and was totally amazed how the dogs sniff and the handler then mark the tree with a ribbon.
1 kg of black winter truffle = $721 = R 13,198 (South African Rand) = 3519.91 STEEM
Prices also depend on availability. I have seen truffle prices of way over 10,000 STEEM for 1 kilogram.
As you cannot keep fresh truffles for long and I no longer cook to impress, I make use of truffle oil or truffle sauce which is cheaper. Yes, I suppose it is not the real deal, but it still enhances the flavor of food, suits my pocket much better, and is freely available at my favorite supermarket.
340g black truffle sauce = R 429.90 (South African Rand) = 114.65 STEEM
My favorite truffle recipe |
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Triffle can be used in many dishes from seafood to pasta, and not to forget meat. A shave or two can turn any dish into a five-star dish.
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GRILLED PRAWNS
Although I like to use truffle oil when I cook prawns, I am not going to share a recipe with you as we all know how to cook prawns.
The only difference is that I will fill a syringe with truffle oil and inject a little into the flesh of the prawns after they are grilled them.
Believe me, this only happens when I want to spoil my family as both prawns and truffle oil are expensive.
Of importance is that hubby grills the prawns for us outside on an open grill. I must give him also some credit or he might not forgive me.
PAMPOENKOEKIES
The dish I want to share with you today is a traditional pumpkin dish, "pampoenkoekies" (pumpkin fritters). They are delicious especially when served hot and can be served with any meal. The two men in my family LOVE them the next day in their lunch boxes.
And yes, believe it or not, you can use truffles with vegetables. Truffle sauce is my secret ingredient for making the best "pampoenkoekies" in the world.
If you don’t have truffle, you can replace it with vanilla essence. They are still supper yummy!
Ingredients:
- 2 cups cooked pumpkin (cold and mashed)
- 125 ml of cake flour
- 5 ml of baking powder
- 5 ml of truffle sauce (or vanilla essence)
- 2 eggs
- Salt to taste
- 125 ml cinnamon sugar (125 ml sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon mixed)
Method:
- Beat the eggs and add them to the mashed pumpkin.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. The dough must not be runny.
- Warm some oil in a pan.
- Scoop spoons full of batter and bake it in the oil.
- Once brown, flip to the other side and let that also brown. When you press lightly with a spoon on the pampoekoekie and it bounces back, it is cooked.
- Once cooked, drain them from the oil on a kitchen towel and sprinkle them with the cinnamon sugar.
That is how easy it is to make "pampoenkoekies" with a difference.
My Steemian friends, when you are offered something with truffle, don't say no and call yourself lucky.
I invite:
@aaliarubab @ruthjoe @bossj23 @chefdanie
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Hola amiga te felicito por tu ingrediente favorito. Yo realmente a través de tu información estoy conociendo este ingrediente ha de ser muy rico porque es costoso me gustaría algún día probarlo y tener la oportunidad de conocer sabores nuevos.
It is not an ingredient that we will use or get to taste every day, that’s for sure. Even though I buy the sauce it lasts me for ages as I only use teaspoons full at a time. :-)
Thank you for the visit and the engagement. It is appreciated 🌼
Dear Friend:
Great work from your side.
Awh! Thank you for the visit and the engagement with my post.
Truffle is something unique and I am glad that you could learn something new from my post.
It is indeed very expensive therefore I only use it on special occasions, like when I want to feel like a culinary chef. (•ิ‿•ิ)
Thank you very much for the invitation.
I just found out if you own a restaurant, maybe I can apply for a job at your restaurant, I can wash dishes ☺️ But unfortunately you don't seem to be there anymore.
Cooking shrimp seems like my daily job, it's my profession and expertise. Here the price of shrimp is very cheap, only 60 TRX for every 1 kilogram. Even behind my house there are many shrimp farming places. Very interesting isn't 🤗
Sehat selalu bunda @patjewell 💪
Yip I was in the hospitality industry for many years. I had a restaurant, coffee shop and a sports bar. Luckily no more. It was hard work. So sorry my friend, no dishes for you (•ิ‿•ิ)
Wow that is cheap for shrimps.
1 kg tiger prawns = 325 TRX
1 kg king prawns = 280 TRX
1 kg shrimps = 150 TRX
And then to get it right behind your home... lucky fish!
Wow amiga esas trufas si que son costosas, veo que es un ingrediente para restaurantes finos, nunca la he probado ni siquiera los hongos, es una privilegiada amiga al poder comprar un kilo de trufas, el plato que nos muestras si lo he realizado pero sin el aceite de trufa, pero con la esencia de vainilla son deliciosos a mi hija le encantan mucho
One day when the price of STEEM climb we might be able to afford to buy a kg of truffles. (•ิ‿•ิ)
As for the pumpkin fritters, it is great to know that you also make them and that they are loved by your daughter. Have you tried them with a caramel sauce over them? It is to die for!
Thanks for the visit and the engagement!🎕
Hola bella dama, wow how expensive they are amiga, but they must give an exquisite salor to the food, you tempt me with those shrimp haha. I loved how you explained the whole process involved in getting those truffles, yomiii your dessert looks divine, if they could come out of those pictures haha, it would be amazing, right now they would be good for me while I work on the pc.
It is for me to say thank you for the visit and for putting a smile on my face.
Temptation.. there is nothing worse for me than the temptation of food. We will find them everywhere, in our homes, in the supermarkets, in the green grocer, at events, and then even here on Steemit. Amazing! (•ิ‿•ิ)
Greetings sister,
I am glad to see your amazing recipes and favorite ingredients. I didn't know that we can make pumpkins fritters but after reading your post I will try to make it for my family.
I always like your content. I wish you success for your participation. Best of luck. I would like to see your review on my participation too.
Thank you for the visit my friend!
It is always nice to see a comment from you.
Pumpkin fritters are to die for and the day that you try them you better write a post and CC me. (•ิ‿•ิ)
Thank you for the compliment about my content writing and good wish.
PS: I will for sure pay your post a visit
@patjewell I first came to know about this truffle from your post. Various spices are also available in our country. But this is the first time I heard the name of truffle. Thanks for introducing me to a new ingredient।
Regards
@hasina78
How glad am I that you could learn something new. Is that not what Steemit is all about? (•ิ‿•ิ)
Truffles these days are the "in" thing to cook with me you want to be a Michelin star chef.
I am sure that in a couple of years, as new things are being discovered, it will be something else.
Your country indeed has some fantastic aromatic spices to cook with.
Thanks for the visit!
hello my dear friend @patjewell
Shrimp can be cultivated in three ways in Bangladesh. Namely: 1. Shrimp farming alone; 2. Shrimp and rice farming in stages; 3. Salt production and shrimp farming in phases.Monoculture shrimp farming mainly refers to the cultivation of bagged shrimp in coastal areas. Areas with tidal influence are suitable for single shrimp farming.
Best regard @jannatmou
Oh wow! This is so interesting! Thank you for sharing.
They say that shrimp farming is very profitable yet I don't know why we don't have so little shrimp farms in South Africa when we have this extremely long coastline.
It is a very expensive product and often I see they even import from other countries.
Thank you for the engagement with my post!🎕
I always wish you good luck and shrimp farming is very profitable and our desi shrimps are very small and very tasty in cooking.
My dear friend, I don't know your favorite ingredient, but with all the characteristics that stand out from it and the sublime charm placed in your writing, I already fell in love with it. Congratulations on your successful participation
It is for me to thank you for your the engagement with my post. It is appreciated.
Truffle is not something that we can keep in our homes due to the fact that it is so rare and expensive therefore I am glad that I could share it with you.