As pantomime season rolls around, food writer Matija Babić is here to unmask a villain – fake truffle flavour, extracted not from real truffles, but something much less savoury
As Christmas approaches, you may have noticed that truffles (the fragrant fungi, not the lookalike chocolates) are popping up in more and more ‘luxury’ ready-made dishes, often with a pumped-up price to match. Which is fine – except these dishes don’t actually contain truffles.
What they contain is a synthetic truffle flavour with the catchy name of 2,4-dithiapentane, an organosulphur compound naturally found in truffles. It’s also the main aromatic compound in foot odour and halitosis (mmm, bad breath....). Although it’s impossible to extract 2,4-dithiapentane from truffles, it can be extracted from petroleum. Litres of it are sourced for a few euros from Italy, Germany or China, then end up in our fridges and on our plates.
It’s not just festive foods either. Truffle oil, truffle-flavoured crisps, ketchup, honey, sausages and cheese, tartufata (a ‘truffle’ sauce)... They all use synthetic truffle flavour, as do most ‘truffle’ pasta and frittata dishes in restaurants. Some products list ‘natural flavouring’ – but this is a marketing ploy. That could be any additional flavour derived from plants or animals. It could come from a dead pig.
If you’ve tried these products and liked them, fair enough. But if you’ve tried them and thought “nope, truffles aren’t for me”, it doesn’t mean you don’t like truffles; it could simply indicate you don’t like petroleum on your plate. The aroma of real truffles is mild and complex.
“But”, you may say, “I’ve seen bits of truffle in my food...” That’s because, while some truffles are sensational, complex and cost £10,000 per kilo, others are worthless tubers. The Chinese black truffle has no taste or smell and costs less than £9
