Why I failed at making truffle honey

The ditches are completely full of snow. Lots of moisture for the coming season!

What's new on the farm:

I am so glad to report that Saskatoon has emerged from our deep freeze!

When we lived in the city, winter was always a bit inconvenient.

But on a farm, everything is so much harder in the cold! Tractors, forklifts, trucks — these are not happy in -40°C/F.

Now that it's the end of February, Andrew is preparing for the start of the 2025 season, ordering supplies and getting equipment and trucks ready.

Our car battery charger was working overtime while we were dealing with frozen solid vehicles. On the plus side, our bees didn't have to deal with the freezing cold winter here.

Soon, Andrew will be joining them for an early spring on Vancouver Island. Daffodils, crocuses, and aconites are the first flowers that usually emerge. The bees will then start to leave the hive on sunny days, collecting the first bits of fresh pollen they will have had in months.

The feeling is less relevant to us as supermarkets allow us to get fresh produce year-round. But I can still relate, like waiting for the first garden tomato of the season, still many months away!

Have you had "truffle"?

About 5 years ago, a local grocery partner asked me if I could produce truffle honey for them. Seemed like a good challenge, I thought. I got to work investigating the possibilities.

At the time, truffles were very popular in the culinary world. Of course, it started in fine dining restaurants, and then as it became more popular, you'd see truffles all over the place: truffle fries, truffle pasta, truffle dumplings, and so on...

The allure of truffles is naturally related to how expensive they are. The most expensive truffles are Italian white winter truffles, usually over $200 per ounce. High quality truffles are difficult to cultivate and tricky to harvest, taking up to 7 years after planting. They need specific soil chemistry, watering, protection from wildlife, and a well-trained dog or pig to sniff out ripe truffles.

Fresh truffle loses most of its aroma and flavor within 3-5 days. Freezing or preserving in oil or butter helps a little, but most intense flavor is lost immediately. So how is everyone getting truffle in their dishes?

The answer: truffle oil. Found everywhere — high-end specialty stores and supermarkets, by the ounce and by the 5-gallon tub. The problem: almost all truffle oil is not made with truffle, but a synthetic flavor compound called 2,4-Dithiapentane, labeled as "truffle aroma." It’s one-note and lacks the depth of a real truffle.

I've had a few truffle fries in my life. I am sure I have never even come close to tasting real truffle. I don’t mind flavorings in recipes, but it’s misleading when people pay a premium thinking it’s real.

For our truffle honey project, I had to pass. There was no way to make real truffle honey preserving the flavor and aroma, and I wasn’t interested in making an artificial version. This raises an important question: What other "premium" foods aren't what they seem?