Registration is now open for the Oregon Truffle Festival, January 28-30, 2011—a fantasy for fans of the fabulous fungus. Activities include:

• Truffle and wine dinners
• Cooking classes and seminars
• Winery luncheons
• Truffle hunt
• Farm tours
• A fresh truffle marketplace to bring home a truffle “souvenir” or two

The sixth anniversary Grand Truffle Dinner will feature Oregon’s native winter white and black truffles in a sumptuous five-course meal paired by some of Oregon‘s top chefs—and of course, paired with acclaimed Oregon wines.

Hunt your own truffles! Photo courtesy
Oregon Truffle Festival.

P.S.: If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.

An inexpensive luxury: truffle butter on
bread. Photo by Melody Lan | THE NIBBLE.

You can enjoy the flavor and aroma of black and white truffles every day of the year with 3-ounce tubs of truffle butter for $7.99 or 8 ounces for a few dollars more.

D’Artagnans truffle butter, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week, is our favorite little indulgence. For the price of a cocktail, you can have a three-ounce tub of precious, sweet butter, chock-full of black or white truffle pieces. It’s almost as satisfying as a fresh truffle dish that costs more than $100.00 at fine restaurants.

• Spread truffle butter on French rolls or slices of baguette as a snack, with meals or as an hors d’oeuvre with wine.
• Make truffled scrambled eggs. Add an ounce of buttermilk for each egg and scramble in truffle butter. Garnish with finely snipped parsley and serve with a slice of toasted baguette “crouton” spread with more truffle butter.

• Toss truffle butter with angel hair pasta.
• Butter a baked potato.
• Add a spoonful to sauces.You’ll be in truffle heaven for less than $10.
• Read our review of D’Artagnan truffle butter.

One way we enjoy truffles in a more affordable form is through truffle cheese and truffle honey, which incorporate small pieces of truffle that have broken off from the fab fungi. They smell and taste as wonderful as the whole truffle.

Murray’s Cheese has put together a truffle lover’s gift set that includes:

• Cypress Grove Chevre’s Truffle Tremor, one of our favorite cheeses and a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week
• Creminelli Brothers’ tartufo (truffle) salame,* another NIBBLE Top Pick
• Delectable white truffle honey from truffle specialist Da Rosario, a Top Pick contender.

* “Salame” is how Italians spell it. “Salami” is an American adaptation.

Three ways to enjoy truffles. Photo
courtesy MurraysCheese.com.

• See more of our favorite gourmet food gifts for Holiday 2010.
• See all 100+ holiday gift ideas, conveniently divided into 14 gift lists from Diet and Kids to Kitchenware and Stocking Stuffers.
• Learn all about truffles in our Truffle Glossary.