Leche flan, truffles and risotto

Indeed the holidays are over, but we still have leche flan, truffles and risotto on our mind. Why is that?

Because these were instrumental in making our many family get-togethers over the holidays more exciting and fun. How? We recently had a Leche Flan Challenge and a truffle-infused special dish of creamy risotto. The challenge was among family members who take pride in cooking this golden smooth-as-silk dessert. So it happened – the taste test. It took a non-Pinoy but a dessert lover to break the tie between two finalists. The winner? Fashion designer Larrie’s original, and we mean original, leche flan. He has been making this since he was a teener, so he has mastered the technique and the right proportions of ingredients. His main tip to those who want to make leche flan – use ONLY egg yolks, never add egg whites which make it foamy.

Now the truffles. Lately, a lot of restaurants are offering dishes with “truffles.” We hazard a guess that they are using only truffle-infused extra virgin olive oil, for to use the pure fresh produce will make any dish very expensive. Truffles entered into our culinary consciousness when we came across a variety of truffle-infused olive oil at the Makati Supermarket (priced at P495 a bottle of 150 ml and P695 for 250 ml). Rare and expensive, can you believe that this ugly looking fungus is found among the roots in oak farms in France and Italy by specially trained dogs and pigs, utilizing their keen sense of smell?

Truffles are characterized by their earthy, pungent but delicious aroma and taste. There are two kinds – the black and the white. When mixed with olive oil, the former produces a golden liquid while the latter is clear white. You don’t use truffle oil as a sautéing agent. It is basically sprinkled sparingly on food. We had an excellent demonstration of this when our father-and-son culinary team of Graham and Matthew made a vegan risotto with four kinds of fresh mushrooms, including the pricey portobello, for the family. Risotto is Italy’s rice specialty using a specific type of risotto grain (arborio, available in high-end stores in Metro Manila). Making risotto is a tedious process which involves constant stirring of the rice after it has been sautéd in butter. Stock is gradually added until the rice attains its perfect doneness, with a bite but not under cooked. Laid out on a platter, slightly showered with the truffle-infused extra virgin olive oil, the finished product lived up to our expectations. The chefs certainly did not let us down! It was a super creamy dish.

Have a good Sunday meal!

E-mail me at [email protected].