Truffles, often referred to as the “ultimate mushroom,” are known for their earthy flavor and wallet-denting price (up to $4,000 per pound).

Organic truffle oil is a less expensive option, with different varieties available online and at well-stocked natural and organic food stores.

But read labels carefully. As Chef Daniel Patterson of San Francisco’s Coi Restaurant reports in the New York Times, some truffle oils lack even a hint of real truffle.

“Most commercial truffle oils are concocted by mixing olive oil with one or more compounds like 2,4-dithiapentane (the most prominent of the hundreds of aromatic molecules that make the flavor of white truffles so exciting) that have been created in a laboratory,” he writes.

The Food Network’s Pick 

The Food Network purchases  USDA Certified organic truffle oil from da Rosario, a New York City-based company that sells organic truffle products to  the U.S. market.

Owned by Rosario Safina, author of Truffles: Ultimate Luxury, Everyday Pleasures, da Rosario sources truffles from a small plot on an organic farm in Italy’s Umbrian Valley. Products include USDA Certified 100% organic: 

• Truffle-flavored olive oils (white and black truffle)
• Savory truffle seasonings (white and black truffle)
• Acacia honey with white truffles
• Truffle butters (white and black truffle)  

“If the label says USDA 100% Certified Organic, you can bet there are real, organic truffle pieces inside,” Safina recently explained in The Daily Beast.

Chefs’ Recipes 

Celebrity chefs regularly use real truffle butter and/or oil in their favorite recipes. Check out:

1. Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten’s Roast Turkey with Truffle Butter
2. Iron Chef Bobby Flay’s Parmesan-Crusted Portobello Mushrooms with White Truffle Oil
3. Prolific restaurateur Emeril Lagasse’s rich Root Vegetable Soup with Truffle Oil
4. Asian culinary superstar Ming Tsai’s Wild Mushroom and Pumpkin Risotto

Here in Los Angeles, hip restaurant La Cachette Bistro serves a Belgian Endives Salad with Organic California Walnuts, California Blue Cheese and Truffle Oil Dressing. Trendy Ketchup—known for its French fries tossed with Parmesan cheese and white truffle oil—has introduced a Summer Truffle Sausage Risotto.

For additional recipes, look no further than OrganicAuthority Publisher Laura Klein’s favorite truffle oil dishes.