Impress Your Date: 5 Things To Know About Truffles

Planning to make a reservation at Osia Steak & Seafood Grill for its latest truffle-infused seasonal menu? You’re in for a visual and sensory feast -- the tantalising menu features dishes like succulent boston lobsters served with parmesan and aromatic truffle butter, diver scallops served with seaweed vinaigrette and truffle salsa, as well as beef short ribs accompanied by candied quandong (wild bush fruit) and truffle jus. 

We know you can’t wait, but here are five fun facts about truffles to impress your date!

Beef short ribs with candied quandong and truffle jus

They’re naturally occuring underground and hard to cultivate

The truffles featured in Osia’s limited-time menu are the Perigord black truffles from Manjimup, Western Australia. Truffles are very particular about where they grow and are generally found deep underground near the living roots of trees. In the case of the Manjimup ones, they are grown in association with hazelnut trees and oak trees. Truffles are natural, wild products which are very difficult to cultivate or control. This explains why they are so rare, and this unpredictability leads to the extreme prices.

Female pigs are natural truffle hunters

It’s not easy describing what truffles taste like: musky,and perhaps the gamey flavour of some mushrooms. What do they smell like? Oaky, nutty, and some may say the fresh smell of soaked earth after a rain.The scent of truffles is extremely similar to mammalian reproductive pheromones secreted by boars and humans, which explains why, with a good nose for that scent, female pigs can sniff out truffles. Unfortunately, they will dig the truffles up and gobble them down, hence dogs are preferred as assistants instead!

A rich dude paid US$330,000 for a 1.5kg truffle

Yep, the late Hong Kong casino mogul Stanley Ho bought a 1.5kg truffle for a whopping U$330,000 in 2007. The money raised during the auction went to charities like Caritas Macau, Britain’s Consortium for Street Children and Telethon in Italy. 

Diver scallops served with seaweed vinaigrette and truffle salsa

Largest truffle in the world weighs more than 1.7kg

According to the Guinnesss World Records, the largest truffle in the world is a Tuber magnatum pico found in Italy - it weighed in at 1.786kg! The champion truffle was sold to a phone bidder from Taipei at Sotheby’s New York auction house on 6 December 2014 for US$61,250.

Truffles are said to be an aphrodisiac 

You’d probably only want to mention this tidbit if the date is going well, or else you’ll end up sounding creepy. Since the time of the ancient Greeks, truffles have been known for their aphrodisiac qualities -- Napoleon was said to eat truffles for that reason! 

And if you haven’t already heard, RWS Invites members enjoy a complimentary Chocolate Soup with Black Peppered Ice Cream (its signature dessert worth $22) with a minimum order of two items from the Manjimup Truffle menu. This promotion is valid for lunch and dinner till 30 August - simply use code “osiatruffle” when making a reservation.