The burnout was inevitable. Cooking, as rewarding and enjoyable as it may be, can get tiresome, repetitive, routine when forced upon us (and when everyone is trying to convince you that dried beans, frozen broccoli, and canned tuna are—no, I swear—super delicious). Whether or not you’ve been ordering takeout on occasion, it’s simply more challenging to maintain diversity of flavor and fresh, exotic new food groups in our meals when under quarantine. Problem solved. When I first tried Truff, a line of truffle oil-infused hot sauces, I was highly skeptical. I take my sauces seriously, especially if they’re spicy, and I’ll admit to having a pungent preconceived bias against truffle-flavored foods. (That artificial umami aftertaste is a good way to ruin an otherwise decent batch of french fries.) But between reading several rave reviews of Truff, seeing that they have 106K followers on Instagram, and the fact that it was one of Oprah’s Favorite Things last year, I had to get my hands on a bottle. This stuff is not your average hot sauce, and certainly unlike any packaged truffle product I’ve tasted before. The Truff White Truffle Hot Sauce ($40; food52.com) I tasted is made from a blend of red chili peppers, a hint of agave nectar, white truffle, and coriander. It’s neither overwhelmingly hot nor truffle-y. Truff is the perfect balance of spicy-salty-slightly-sweet and packed with fresh umami flavor. The texture is thicker than tabasco, making it as ideal for dipping as it is for drizzling. I used it to zhuzh up poached eggs and avocado on toast (if you don’t pair it with Everything But the Bagel, you’re missing out), popcorn (messy but worth it), and roasted vegetables (if you thought you hated that frozen broccoli, you’re wrong). Use it to breathe new life into frozen pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches, ramen noodles, pasta dishes, and yes, ALL your baked chicken breasts. Also worth mentioning that the packaging is dazzling. I’ll be gifting a bottle of Truff to everyone I know, starting with my dad for Father’s Day.
