Truffle oil is one of the many culinary oils that you can find in the market today. The main use of truffle oil is to incorporate the flavor and aroma of truffles in the dishes you cook or use them in. Unlike other oils, these are mostly used as a finishing oil.
Why Is Truffle Oil So Expensive?
Truffles are also known as the luxury cousins of mushrooms. They are a popular form of food that many people enjoy eating. However, just like truffles, truffle oil is a really expensive ingredient. Most users don’t have any idea about why the price tag’s so high.
This is why today; we will be purely focusing our article on explaining all there is to know about truffle oil is so expensive. So, if you were also wondering yourself the same question, then we suggest you keep on reading!
- The Difference Between Cheap and Pricey Truffle Oil
Whenever you have gone to buy yourself some truffle oil, you may have noticed multiple categories of truffle oil starting from a low price point to really expensive. The price range of these truffle oils says a lot about their quality.
As there are around 40 different species of truffles, where most of them aren’t even edible. These cheap truffle oils don’t manage to give the taste of the truffle that most people want. The reason behind it is simply because the product uses cheaper methods in order to provide you the aroma of a real truffle.
Most truffle products use 3-4 dithiapentane, which is used as a crucial compound to give a unique aroma and flavor similar to that of a real truffle. In comparison, real truffles are seasonal and pricey. On top of that, they have a short life span. So, the highly expensive truffle oil you may encounter in the market should be made using fine ingredients including a real truffle, and not any synthesized compound.
- Labour Cost
As mentioned earlier, truffles are actually seasonal and cost a lot. Not only are they required to grow through trees, but certain conditions need to be fulfilled before one can fully grow truffles. Even when you have made sure to meet all these conditions, there’s no guarantee that you will be able to grow truffles.
As a result, hunting truffles is actually a labor-intensive task. After you manage to find out where to look for truffles, you will have to manually sniff and dig out each and every truffle using your hand. Though finding truffles are quite tricky and should take you a while, managing to find a good one will surely make it worth your while.
As this requires extreme labor, you will find most truffle oil to be expensive in the market.
- Short Season
Just like many other fruits and vegetables, truffles actually have a very short season in which they can grow. It is also worth mentioning that even after truffles are grown and harvested, they actually have a short shelf life as well. Most truffles start losing their quality after a mere couple of days.
On the other hand, people like to consume truffles in different ways all around the world. As a result, the demand of these truffles is more than the production rate. This results in increasing the prices of truffles in a significant manner.
Likewise, as truffles are the prime ingredient used in making truffle oil, the price hike of truffles will surely end up increasing the price of truffle oils as well.
The Bottom Line:
Ever wonder yourself the question “Why truffle oil is so expensive?”. If so, we highly encourage you to give this article a thorough read. We have mentioned all the details that you will need in order to learn more about the specific reasons why you may find this oil to be so expensive in the market.