This dish is Truffled Fettuccini Carbonara. Carbonara is a classic Italian dish with its names origin (corbone) meaning “coal”. This simple coal miners dish is traditionally made with spaghetti or fettuccini and is always accompanied by egg, black pepper and pecorino cheese. Variations include peas or other vegetables, mushrooms, and pork.

The mushroom on this dish is a Perigord truffle. These small, black, round fungi resemble a lump of coal when taken from the ground but as Brillat-Savarin said in the 1800’s, they are the “diamond of the kitchen”. This particular truffle cost $200 per pound; thankfully a little goes a long way.

Also on the plate are fresh fettuccini, shaved Parmesan-Reggiano, bacon powder and Lucky Leaf farms “Lucky Mix”. There is also a soft poached egg which acted as a sauce when broken.

I like this dish…it is simple and has phenomenal ingredients. When I re-work it this weekend the pasta will be thinner and more delicate, which I think will be more delicate on the palate and will have a more refined presentation.