Did a search and couldn't find any thread yet primarily devoted to truffles. Truffle oil, yes, but not truffles. Post your experiences with truffles. Would be fascinating to hear!

I have had black truffles three times, each time couldn't taste them, so thought the matter might be genetic. Even found some comments on the Internet that some people evidently can't taste them. However, yesterday, on CBS, Sixty Minutes, learned that there are some inexpensive black truffles from China that don't have flavor. The following link is given because it loads faster than the CBS Internet link and has the same material essentially about the Chinese black truffle:

http://matzav.com/truffles-the-most-...d-in-the-world

I didn't pay truffle prices. At the Sorrento Hilton once, on a special menu, probably evening menu, though I can't recall, do recall that they had several menus at the time, maybe a vegetarian menu or something, the items listed included scrambled eggs served with truffles, priced probably not much more than their pizza (and don't order their pizza ). The truffles--I had to remind the waiter that they were included in the menu--were whole. But they had no taste.

So okay. I had black truffle shavings two times later in the U.S. at relatively upscale restaurants--three times if you count taking them once from DH's plate--and still couldn't taste them. So I concluded--must be genetics.

Anyhow, I still hadn't paid hundreds of dollars, still happy, since I had fun checking them out.

But we don't have a thread for truffles! We need one. So you who have gone to the summit of gourmet-dom, for the really real French black and Italian white truffles, and come back, give us your experiences!