tasty home made truffle chips

In a previous post, I talked about the amazingness of the truffle chips at Terre a Terre in Brighton. I vowed to keep working on it to get it right. And I did. I tried at least a few times a month. I tried different oils. I tried paste instead of oil. I tried oven baked chips, I tried deep fried chips. I tried baking them in the oil, I tried adding the oil at the end, and in one particularly expensive experiment I tried both at the same time. My chips never tasted like truffle. I looked at recipe after recipe for truffle fries and I just couldn't understand how the supposedly simple technique of making chips and then tossing them in truffle oil worked for everyone but me.

And then with the fourth truffle oil I tried, I realised the secret. The truffle oil needs to be really strong. A delicate and subtle white truffle oil, however lovely, is too weak to cut through. Black truffle oil with a highly concentrated flavour is your best bet. Not a lot of oil is going to stick to the chips- they already have a coat of oil they were cooked in- so it has to be potent for any flavour to stick.

The one I found that finally worked was Truffle Hunter's restaurant strength black truffle oil. It didn't come cheap- one bottle is £11.45- but it is strong enough that only a small amount is needed, so very cost effective. It will keep truffle chips on the menu here for a very long time!

For this recipe, a deep fryer filled with sunflower or other vegetable oil is required. I have had many successes with oven baked chips too and I will talk about that another day- but for real perfection, it doesn't get much better than crispy twice cooked chips. Cooked once on a low heat, to fluff the insides, and again on a very high heat, to crisp the outsides.

Ingredients

Serves 2 as a side dish

4 medium potatoes
Salt
Black truffle oil
Grated parmesean cheese, optional




1. Pre heat your fryer to 150C / 300F

2. Cut your potatoes into chips- keep them as chunky or skinny as you like, but bear in mind that if they are particularly chunky or skinny it will affect your cooking times!

3. Throw the chipped potatoes into the fryer, and cook for 10 minutes until they are a quite soft and soggy, but not too brown. Give the basket a shake halfway through to avoid them sticking together and cooking unevenly

4. Remove the chips and let them cool down, atop some paper towel to soak up the excess oil

5. Pre heat the fryer to 190C / 375F

6. Place the chips back into the fryer for a further 4 to 5 minutes, until they are your preferred crispiness

7. Throw the chips into a large bowl, sprinkle with salt and a drizzle of truffle oil. I haven't given an amount- it really depends on how potent your oil is. If you have the strongest of oils, 1 teaspoon will do. If you have a milder one, you may need more.

8. Toss the chips to ensure they are evenly coated with the salt and oil. Throw in the cheese now, if using.

9. Dig in, use your hands, and lick your fingers when you're done!