Are Truffles The Culinary World’s Most Overrated Ingredient?

You smell it first. That nose-turning, scowl-inducing scent that blankets the room like a stink bomb. Truffle.

The spore-bearing fruit of a mushroom has become synonymous with fine dining and bank account-busting meals around the world — but frankly, I find it revolting. From the smell to the taste to the texture, it’s all wrong. And it’s certainly not worth the eye-watering price that restaurants charge to shave off a few slices.

Despite its popularity, I’m not alone in my thoughts on this bizarrely beloved fungus. “The taste is reminiscent of sweat, body odor and rot. Beyond the taste, the smell and the appearance are also incredibly off-putting,” said Nick Fulton, a political media strategist based in Washington, D.C. “You don’t need to tell me you added truffle to a dish. I will smell the stink from the door.”

Truffles contain androstenone, a pheromone that, according to scientists, 40% of the population hates the smell of. Similar to how some people think cilantro tastes like soap, truffles are surprisingly polarizing.

“Truffle smells like dirty gym socks to me and always has,” said journalist Mickey Lyons. “I’ve never understood how people think it’s a luxury item.”

Stepfanie Romine, who literally wrote the book on mushrooms, can’t even eat this funk-filled variety.

“I hate truffle because it hates me, too,” she said. “People forget truffle is a raw fungus. Eating uncooked or undercooked mushrooms can cause G.I. upset for some people — myself included. When I eat truffle, I end up in the bathroom for the rest of the day. When my husband eats truffle, he gets stomach cramps that double him over in pain.”

This adverse reaction isn’t all that rare. “I just spent a recent birthday puking all night because the chef must have used 45 truffles in the entire meal,” said Jennifer Billock, a journalist and author. “Luckily, I made it to the last course before I got too sick.”

Dug from the dirt by truffle-hunting pigs and dogs, these coveted mushrooms continue to appear on menus across the world at an alarming rate. Most of the world’s truffles come from Spain, France and Italy, but now, more than 200 truffle farms are sprouting up in the United States. And thanks to America’s farm-to-fork obsession, many chefs are taking advantage.

“I used to work in a fine dining restaurant where we shaved truffles tableside during certain times of the year, and I could never understand why anyone would pay extra money to have that noxious aroma happen to them on purpose,” said Pamela Vachon, a food writer and educator.

“As someone who is culinary school-trained and works in food and wine, I feel like I’m supposed to like them because of their hard-to-get, ephemeral nature,” Vachon said. “But whatever signals get transmitted to other people’s brains by that smell, mine only interprets as ‘gross,’ and something you definitely don’t want blanketing your pasta.”

Many truffle-hating diners feel this fungal fascination has gone too far.

“It makes me crazy that chefs can’t untie the truffle pigs from their hearts. Enough is enough!” Billock said. “Not everything needs to have truffle in it. Fries were great before they had truffle oil splattered on them. Macaroni and cheese with truffle is an act against God.”

For some people, when deciding where to eat, spotting truffles on any dish is a sign to stay away.

“If I see truffle on your food or read about it on the menu, I want to eat somewhere else. I feel like it’s a crutch, too,” Billock said. “Like chefs use it to appear creative and high-end instead of working on their actual food to improve it.”

And while chefs may see it as an easy way to add profit to a dish, it’s not always a crowd-pleaser.

“If you’re considering riding the truffle trend and adding the rotted fungus to a random dish and tacking on a premium, please reconsider,” Fulton said. “And for chefs already including items featuring truffles, I beg you to crack a window so the rest of the restaurant can breathe without being choked by fungal B.O.”

“When chefs use truffles, it tells me that they’re not confident, that they don’t believe in their own abilities to construct a well-balanced dish or understand the power of restraint,” said Vanessa Chiasson, a freelance food and travel writer.

So, how do you pair something that smells like rotting garbage with high-end wine? Due to the ingredient’s reputation as a Michelin must, sommeliers around the world are given the difficult task.

“Pairing wine with truffle is a challenge, as only a small amount of varieties are suited to handle the overpowering flavor profile of truffle. As a wine professional, you want to push the boundaries, try new pairings, showcase new flavors and combinations, but with truffle, it’s limiting since the flavors can overwhelm the senses,” said sommelier Krystina Roman. “Simply put, truffles are the obnoxious, loud, loud-mouthed party guests you can’t seem to get rid of.”

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