I have seen and heard of Italians going through such troubles to find truffles and raving about their unique flavour, but the mystery of truffles remained, until I finally tried Porcine risotto with White truffles at Primo Italiano-Sydney’s annual Italian festival. *You see me carefully putting the last spoonful of risotto?*

I was surprised by the unusual flavour, yet I wasn’t sure whether the flavour came from porcine mushrooms or the truffles or the combination. Then I saw cheese with white truffles at a cheese tasting stall and sampled some, there I finally understood the hoo-hah about Truffles. From then on, truffle flavour became something I can die for. *too exaggerated? I admit. *

Nowadays whenever I run into Italian cheese shops I look out for truffle cheese. *Perfect match for wine!*

These are three different types of cheese from Good Food&Wine Show last weekend where I lost my sense and bought a bag full of it. This truffle cheese was softer than one above and covered with what I thought was ashes – they made the cheese look a bit messy as you can see.

This Italian washed rind, creamy brie is what is thought to be the best in the world. I don’t know what could be the best way to describe the taste. *My apology for my lack of culinary vocabulary*

Very creamy and a bit stinky for brie, …

Nice with fruit paste…

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Shitaki Mushroom with White Truffle Cheese

I keep dried Shitaki mushrooms handy for those days when I can’t find anything to cook from the fridge. I often throw them in stir fry or any other Asian dishes since they give really nice, rich flavour.

I’m not sure if Italians cook with Shitaki mushrooms. I don’t remember seeing them in European shops or restaurants in general, either.

The first risotto I made was ‘Swiss Brown mushroom Risotto‘ and it is my all time favourite.

This time I adapted the same recipe to Shitaki by replacing parmesan cheese with truffle cheese. I was a bit worried the strong shtaki flavour would overpower truffles.

But the stinkiness of truffles beat shitaki 3 to 5. *impressive winning*

I recommend you squeeze a bit of lemon juice over your risotto.

Lemon will enhance the unique mushroom flavour to perfection and make every mouthful absolutely heavenly.