Tartufi...

That would be truffles...to you and me.

(and in case you don't know Italian)

Last night found me at my friend Sean's house for what we're trying to make 30 Rock Thursdays.  I think 30 Rock is hysterical and much more so when watched with someone else in the room...and I haven't been able to find anyone to do this with in town...so I forced Sean to watch it with me, and he discovered he liked it.

So.

There you go.

After our last 30 Rock catch-up (cause we have to start at the beginning of the show) I had bigplans to start earlier and make food.  Which is exactly what we did last night.

The Menu:

*Fresh hand made Gnocchi with butter and truffles (that my father kindly sent me for Christmas from Italy) and fresh grated Parmesan cheese

* Fresh tomatoes with slices of fresh mozzarella and a basil paste

*Bread with butter and fresh garlic

*A bottle of (one of my most favorite reds) Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages

It was a lovely dinner.

It's been positively years since I've made gnocchi, and it's so very easy to do, it makes me wonder why I don't do it more often?  I think I shall have to add gnocchi into my rotation...It's also been years since I've had truffles.

The thing with truffles is...they live in your taste-bud memory.

It's hard to explain exactly what truffles taste like other than saying they're like a very earthy mushroom...which is certainly saying something, as mushrooms are quite earthy to begin with.  Because of the strong flavor of truffles, it never takes very many to really compliment a meal...which is good because they're so danged expensive.

But one taste on the tongue and you instantly know why the price is set so high...