Summer truffles, our own garden and chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches!

tuber aestivum

This is what I got my better half for our anniversary! It’s summer truffles or Tuber aestivum. It’s not as good as white truffles or black truffles but it’s something I can afford without breaking the bank – a small chunk of Perigord black truffle the size of a snail can cost RM 2,000 – if you can find it!

white truffle aroma

I’ve never found truffles for sale here. I’ve seen olive oil infused with white truffle flavor (which usually costs around RM 100 for 200 ml) but that’s a very different thing. White truffle flavor isn’t white truffle, it’s synthetic, but it’ll make a good condiment (some people call it the mediocre chef’s crutch ;)). It tastes good and that’s what you get when you order thick cut truffle fries.

black truffle aroma

But there are actually no real truffles inside that bottle of olive oil. It’s just chemicals for flavor. One step up would be the 1% truffle oil infusions where you do get a few small shavings of truffles (equivalent to 5% fresh truffle) but is also rounded up with artificial truffle flavor and aroma.

truffle oil

This would usually set you back around RM 200 or so for a 200 ml bottle. I wanted to get this one actually since it has that distinctive truffle aroma I wanted my dear to taste.

However, I saw real summer truffles from Italy! It’s just 35 grams (50 grams if you include the water) and it comes in a tiny bottle that I thought would be perfect for a present!

summer truffles

I’ve wanted to get her some truffles since she’s never had them before. This is just about what I can afford right about now and I thought it’s nice to get real truffles for that price!

herb garden

My dear got me this! It’s a living garden – or rather a herb garden that she made and stuck with all sorts of notes. I love it!

(and also a toothbrush and hand washing liquid – she has a very practical side that I love)

I’ve been taking care of it ever since! I water it a little every day and give it some sun (recently started putting it outside at night so it’ll get some dew too). I thought it’s a perfect present, she’s always so thoughtful. We can now harvest our own herbs from our own garden! 😀

pandora autumn 2013

I also got her a Pandora charm from the new Autumn 2013 collection.

pandora charm

I thought this one was quite relevant and she said something that I felt quite happy about – the charm bracelet has our own story! I’m glad she liked it.

food processor

I also made dinner for her (more about that soon). It was a working day so I had to rush here and there, running about like a madman trying to get everything I needed.

cookie ice cream

It was a very nice anniversary that we rounded up with a nice chocolate chip cookie sandwich filled with ice cream from Good Humor.

hb ling 7th

I’m glad to have her in my life, it has brightened it much and I’m all the better for that! <3 pandora 2013

I love you dear! *hugs my dear*

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38 thoughts on “Summer truffles, our own garden and chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches!”

  1. HB, is that pesto? I ran out basil some time and use spinach or broccoli work out well. Broccoli must be cooked first to make pesto first.

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    • Nope, that’s arugula! 🙂

      I turned the rocket leaves into a puree. I’ve never made my own pesto before but doing a lot more technical stuff while cooking now!

      Reply
    • I’m sure you can find the right one to spend your life with too! 🙂

      It’s a lot of fun when you share a lot of common interests – we have that in cooking!

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    • Cheers mate! We had fish on the menu that night. 😉

      It was a king grouper inside one of those fish pastries so I thought it was quite poetic to do that. I didn’t do the puree well though but managed one of the best things to come out of the food processor just now. Haha!

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    • Thanks Charmaine! 🙂

      Yeah, I totally agree! The best part is you can pluck them to eat too, like we just did. It’s an edible herb garden after all.

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    • Yeah, truffle oil can always be seen in specialty groceries! 🙂

      It’s a bit harder to find real truffles though – white truffles, black truffles or summer truffles. It’s the first time I’ve seen truffles for sale in Malaysia!

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    • Thanks Reana! 🙂

      The ice cream is awesome, but a bit on the pricey side though. It’s worth it for special occasions and I like the two chocolate chip cookies that sandwiches the ice cream.

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    • I got the summer truffles at Ben’s Independent Grocer! 🙂

      It’s the only place I could find real truffles instead of just truffle oil. I can’t remember the price coz I don’t have the receipt with me but it’s around RM 80 if I’m not mistaken.

      It’s a bargain considering you get real truffles (albeit summer truffles instead of the more flavorful black/white truffles) but on the other hand, it’s just 35 grams, which isn’t a lot.

      Reply
  2. Love this post, HB. Thanks for sharing another milestone of your relationship!

    That chunk of truffle looks impressive…if you don’t mind can I ask how much that sets you back? A piece of truffle roughly that size would cost around AUD$100 I would think! A month ago my partner and I were having dinner at a fancy place and he decided to add shaved truffles to our pasta entree at AUD$25 per person…and we had like…four thinly shaved slices? It really adds something to the pasta – but gee the price was steep. 😉

    Ling’s herb garden looks wonderful, made with lots of love and I know you’ll care for it with lots of love as well. She’s a creative girl indeed.

    Happy anniversary to you two!!

    Reply
    • Thanks Jyannis! 🙂

      Yeah, truffles are expensive! I reckon you had the black truffle, that would sound right according to your price description of AUD 25 for two thinly shaves slices. That’s how it’s normally served anyway, when I had them in Melbourne.

      The taste is really something else eh?

      It adds a lot of flavor but I can’t afford black or white truffles. I can’t find them for sale here either!

      I chanced upon these summer truffles, which is the next (only?) best thing since I can’t find actual truffles anywhere here – just truffle oil.

      It’s about RM 80 for that 35 gram bottle (50 grams if you include the water) so that translates to about AUD 27.

      It’s summer truffles though which doesn’t have the intensity of flavor compared to black and white truffles but it’s good nonetheless!

      Cheers for your well wishes! I’m lucky to have her.

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    • Thanks Ciana! 🙂

      I’ve never seen truffles before this either! I got it for around RM 80 (or it could be more but definitely less than RM 100) for 35 grams of summer truffles.

      Black and white truffles would be more expensive but I’m just glad I found real truffles to share with my better half!

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  3. OMG! That ‘chocolate chip cookie sandwich filled with ice cream’…I really wanna take a bite!!
    You both are so sweet…to shower each other with pressies and love…

    Reply
    • Yeah, it’s a really good ice cream sandwich Mel! 🙂

      Thanks! I’m lucky to have her and I don’t want to just show it one day per year but to treat her well all the time. That’s what I want to be – a nice partner.

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  4. I’ve had shaved truffles on a pasta at a restaurant here but have never bought truffles in a bottle. Given the high price, I think I will just continue to eat it in restaurants only in case I ruin it in my kitchen hehe

    Happy anniversary 😀

    Reply
    • Yeah, I’ve had shaved truffles here too – on a RM 500 Waygu steak (!!!).

      It wasn’t Perigord black truffles though but summer truffles, just like that ones I bought – you can tell the difference from the shavings.

      I think a couple of places serves shaved truffles on their dishes – off the top of my head, Alexis, The Olive (Genting), S.Wine, BEAST and other B.I.G. restaurants, but the one that I know for sure has black Perigord truffles is The Olive coz I’ve seen them before.

      Their Waygu blue steaks starts from at least RM 350++ onwards though (dinner for two with wine would run you about 1k, not too bad if you won in the casino, which is why it’s there I suppose) so it’s not an everyday dining option. I’ve only been there twice myself!

      Reply
    • Thanks Constance! 🙂

      Haha! I don’t think that’s the definition of PDA, although I’m all for it. I’m not one of those cynical people who thinks negatively when couples kiss and hug in public, I think it’s sweet.

      The ice cream sandwich can be found at BIG in Publika, that’s where I got it anyway. It’s at the ice cream selection opposite the pints – it’s a relatively easy to miss area if you don’t look or go there often. It’s the closest shopping mall to my place!

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    • Thanks Kathy! 🙂

      Yeah, that’s my better half’s idea! It’s growing well now. The basil is growing very nicely and spring onions sprouts at 1 inch per day (!!!).

      It’s amazing!

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    • Thanks Eiling! 🙂

      Yeah, I’ve been trying to find truffles for a long time but there’s just none for sale. It’s the first time I’ve seen real truffles, so I wanted to get them for my better half to try!

      Maybe someday I’ll be able to afford USD 3,600 per pound for white truffles and USD 1,000 per pound for black truffles but for now I can only get summer truffles which goes for 1/3 the price of black truffles (USD 300 per pound).

      Reply

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