How to Use Truffle Salt: What It Is and 10 Ways to Use It
Truffle salt is a finishing salt: flakes of sea salt that have taken on the aroma of black truffle. Use it at the very end, as a pinch over food that’s already cooked, and never in the pan, because heat drives off the aroma you’re paying for. Ours is two Australian ingredients and nothing else: sea salt flakes and black truffle from the Margaret River region. A single gram makes a serve.
What truffle salt actually is
Good truffle salt is exactly what it says. Our truffle salt comes from The Margaret River Truffle Farm at Cowaramup, which grows Tuber melanosporum, the Périgord black truffle, among oak and hazelnut trees. The farm leaves sea salt flakes, drawn from ancient seabeds deep beneath the outback, to bathe with its black truffle until the flakes carry the aroma. The ingredient list reads “Australian sea salt flakes, black truffle”, and that’s all of it.
That short list matters. Some truffle products get their smell from added aroma compounds rather than from truffle, so read the label before you buy. Our guide to the best truffle oil in Australia explains how to tell the difference, and the same test works for salt.
The one rule: finish, don’t cook
Truffle aroma is delicate and volatile. It lifts off and disappears in serious heat, which is why truffle salt belongs on the plate, not in the pan. Season as usual with ordinary salt while the food cooks, going a little lighter than normal, then add the truffle salt at the end. The warmth of the food releases the aroma; the stove would burn it off. It’s the same rule as using truffle oil, and it’s where most truffle dinners go wrong.
How much to use
A pinch, which is less than you think. The maker’s measure is one gram a serve, roughly a small pinch between your thumb and two fingers. It’s still salt, so taste as you go and take the ordinary salt down to leave room for it. The flakes also bring a clean mineral crunch, so they shine on food where you’ll notice it.
10 ways to use truffle salt
- Eggs. Fried with a soft yolk, scrambled gently, or on a boiled egg with toast soldiers: the fastest luxury breakfast there is. Our truffle scrambled eggs finish with a pinch.
- Buttered pasta. Spaghetti, butter, parmesan and a pinch at the table. For more truffle, add a few drops of oil, as in our 15-minute truffle pasta.
- Steak. Salt it plainly for the pan, then finish with truffle salt as it comes off to rest.
- Mash. Stir it through just before serving, or scatter it on top. Our truffle mash uses it for seasoning.
- Chips and roast potatoes. Toss them in it the moment they come out of the oil or the oven, while they’re still glossy.
- Popcorn. Butter it, then salt it. It’s the star of our truffle movie-night board.
- Soup. Mushroom, potato and leek, cauliflower: a pinch in each bowl, not in the pot.
- Truffle butter. Mash a generous pinch into softened butter, roll it up in baking paper and chill. Slice it onto steak, corn or hot bread.
- Avocado on toast. Olive oil, lemon, a pinch of truffle salt.
- Cheese toasties and pizza. A pinch over the melted cheese as it comes out.
Truffle salt or truffle oil?
Both, and each has a home ground. Truffle oil is at its best on soft food it can coat, like pasta and risotto. Truffle salt is at its best where the flakes can sit and crunch: eggs, steak, chips, popcorn, toast. Plenty of dishes, mash and soup among them, take either. If you only buy one, start with the salt, because it’s the easier one to use every day. The Truffle Gift Pack puts the salt with the farm’s truffle mustard and aioli, and the Premium Truffle Gift Pack adds the oil and balsamic.
How to store it
Keep the lid on tight and the jar somewhere cool and dry, away from the stove and out of direct sun. The aroma is the whole point, and air, heat and light all dull it. Then use it. Truffle salt isn’t something to save for a special occasion; it’s at its best open and in use. The maker’s own advice: stop and smell it first, every time.
Start here
A 50 g jar of Margaret River truffle salt at a gram a serve goes further than you’d expect. Try it first on tomorrow’s eggs. Then explore the rest of our truffle range, and read why winter is truffle season in Australia.
