Typically, I pass on partnership opportunities that are pitched from companies outside of Northeast Ohio. But, occasionally one catches my attention that I do feel is a good fit to share with you.
So when Truffle Shuffle out of San Francisco reached out, their story and the way they pivoted their business during the pandemic really interested me. I have to say, I'm so glad that I did team up with this company to attend one of their virtual cooking classes (all featuring truffles, of course!) because it was one of the best experiences we've had during this pandemic.
While working in the best Michelin Star restaurant kitchens, including The French Laundry, Chefs Jason McKinney and Tyler Vorce loved incorporating truffles into their dishes. Sarah, who worked the front of the house at TFL, shared the chefs' love of truffles. The Chefs conceived and launched Truffle Shuffle as an honest truffle company to provide the finest truffle products and consciously sourced and traced fresh truffles. They also serve and support the community by volunteering and donating a portion of their profits to 1% For The Planet. Like most businesses in their industry, the pandemic hit hard and swiftly, so they needed to pivot and developed a series of virtual cooking classes.
These live, interactive classes include a meal kit for two (dinner + cocktail) with pre-measured ingredients, entertainment, and a wealth of knowledge that leaves you with not only an excellent meal but the confidence to recreate the dish again. The price varies slightly by class.
Our kit came with the ingredients and recipe for a Paolo Maldini, and this is one cocktail we'll be making again and again!
But we were there for the TRUFFLES, and the
Fresh Pasta Carbonara with Black Truffle Tartufata delivered on that big time.
The class kicked off with live entertainment of an Italian accordion musician, which was unexpected and set the tone for some fun in the kitchen.
On top of the ingredients being delivered pre-measured and labeled, the live class instruction was perfectly paced and easy to follow. Which is hard to do, in my experience.
Mr. H has always been intimidated by working with dough, but their step-by-step guidance, and pauses to troubleshoot for any participant that asked, led to success!
I'm telling you, this pasta sauce was one of the absolute
best that I've ever had.
It wasn't just the cocktails talking.The class wrapped up as we sat down for the meal, and this dish had both of us licking the plate.
The virtual experience lasted close to 2.5 hours, but I never would have guessed it was that long because I felt engaged and entertained the entire time.
And we all know that I wasn't the one doing the bulk of the cooking. That's hard to do these days when we're all burnt out on Zoom meetings and events.
What also set this class apart from others that I've experienced is that it had 70 participants from literally around the world, and there were several times throughout the class that the chefs were interactive with us. Seeing the Zoom faces of other participants pop up on the screen and having some conversation in real time just enhanced the experience. It was well balanced with instruction, interaction, and entertainment.
In addition to the live class, a printed recipe is also provided. In fact, we already purchased a jar of Tartufata online to try and recreate this dish immediately. It is a Spanish style truffle pesto with Black Truffles, Mushrooms and Pistachios blended with Spanish Arbequina olive oil, and you can purchase a
Pasta Kit from Truffle Shuffle (
class not included) or just the pesto on Amazon.
Check out their website for truffle products, live class meal kits, recipes, and more.
Disclosure: I was provided with one meal kit and live class in exchange for sharing my experience. All opinions stated are 100% my own.
