The BLACK TRUFFLE of Potato Chips

No, for once the headline is not a tease. This is not a metaphor for grading chips by the number of their flavour enhancements. This is truly BLACK TRUFFLE POTATO CHIPS!

Originally hailing from France, the black truffle is the fruiting body of the fungus Tuber melanosporum.  Black truffles have been a delicacy for some years. Originally so expensive that it could only be added in sparing quantities as a highlight rather than an ingredient, it's been elevated by restaurants (the now defunct Two Chefs on Stanley's Black Truffle Risotto and Tetsuya's Truffle Butter are my enduring memories) and programmes such as Iron Chef (for whom no expense is spared!) to such a high level that from early adopters in Tasmania, truffle farming has spread to mainland Australia, making this (let's face it!) ugly little fungus more accessible.

For those who haven't tasted good truffles (and there is a difference) they have a kind of earthy, hint of mushroomy, something indescribable that you have to taste for yourself! For some it's an acquired taste, for me, any time I eat out, I will be "hunting" for truffles on the menu. As long as it's not offered in omelette form (egg allergy!), I will most likely pick that as my first choice.

But enough about my love affair with black truffles! We can thank Jenius for leading Yaya to the source of these. It was her blog on the 100 Yen ($2.50) shop which inspired the visit and the subsequent discovery of these. They have spared no expense on the design of the pack, make no mistake, these are a premium product. The pack itself is a glossy black to purple gradient and the big diamond on the "i"  and the strip of silver "Black Truffle" graphics in "sterling" silver should tell you something too!

Like most of the exotic chips I've been tasting, the flavour is sealed in a separate little sachet, a point of difference which means that the chips stay dry and non-greasy and the flavour stays untainted by the oil in the potato. The powder was non-descript but at least it wasn't an unnatural colour.

 So this ...











  plus this ...

equals this! But this would be unappetising to eat as is so following the helpful back of pack instructions to rock and roll:

the chips looked more like this!

And how did they taste? You could really taste the truffle, it didn't taste "manufactured" or like it was a flavouring. I'm not sure what kind of new technology or how much R&D is allowing the production of such authentic taste replication in a humble potato chip but whatever it is, I hope it's not bad for you because I really want to keep eating these chips. At a mere $2.88, I can get my truffle fix a little more often even if the ingredients (E621 & E635) tell me otherwise! : D