The Ingredient Fad That Martha Stewart Loves To Hate

Martha Stewart is nothing short of a domestic goddess. The entrepreneur, cookbook author, and homemaking sage has made an empire of guiding her followers through the art of making a good, and delicious life. So when she gives her opinion, we tend to listen. And there is one trendy food product that Stewart has some particularly thorny feelings towards: truffle oil. Simply put, truffle oil is a flavored oil meant to mimic the taste of truffle , which are incredibly rare and expensive. For many diners, and cooks, truffle oil is a more cost efficient way of replicating the unique taste of the rarified fungi in dishes such as pasta, or even popcorn. However, Martha Stewart, for her part, does not care for the ingredient, and for good reason. 

Stewart explained her aversion to truffle oil on an episode of TODAY. During her appearance, she was asked about the one ingredient she avoids in the kitchen, and Stewart was eager in her answer. "Oh, I would never use truffle oil, oh never," Stewart retorted. Her reasoning? It's simple, according to Stewart, truffle oil is "...synthetic, it's fake, it's horrible. It's clings to your tastebuds, it's a hideous thing. Forget truffle oil." Now, Stewart isn't alone in her dislike of the ingredient. Gordon Ramsay is not shy about hatred for the ingredient, and Anthony Bourdain once compared it to a synthetic lubricant. Ouch. But what, exactly, makes truffle oil so reviled, while truffles themselves are so beloved? Well, it probably starts with the fact that truffle oil actually has very little to do with actual truffles.

Now, this wide spread aversion to truffle oil may come as a surprise to many home cooks who use truffle oil as a flavoring in many dishes. After all, many restaurants use truffle oil either in place of, or as a supplement to actual truffles. So what's the deal with truffle oil, and is it, as Martha Stewart says, a "fake"? Well, unfortunately, yes. Most truffle oils on the market are flavored with chemicals that mimic the taste and smell of truffle. And these chemicals are not at all related to those little round, subterranean fungi. The chemical used to flavor this oil is called 2,4-Dithiapentane. This chemical smells similar to white truffles, not to be confused with black truffles, and is often used to mimic this odor and taste in truffle butters, oils, and other products. Now you maybe thinking, well, perhaps this compound derives from truffles. But you'd be wrong, as it can actually come from petroleum. 

Now, eating petroleum products doesn't exactly sound appetizing. However, it is perfectly safe to consume, and many truffle oils derive this compound from other, natural sources, such as vegetables. The real issue with these products is that, while these artificially sourced compounds can imitate certain notes found in truffles, they do not capture the full, complex taste of the ingredient. Additionally, truffle oil often has an unpleasant aftertaste that simply don't do justice to the real thing. So it might be best to stick with Martha Stewart on this point.