Truffled Eggs for the Sixth Date of Christmas

On the sixth date of Christmas my true love cooked for me…truffled eggs! This time of year around our house, ’tis the season to be truffle (which certainly makes us jolly, too!). The white Italian Alba truffles come in first–it will be black French Perigord truffle season around January. The white truffles are way more expensive, but it’s the holidays and according to my insider sources, it’s a fabulous season–meaning the truffles are abundant and thus not as expensive as they usually are.  Still, to keep this from costing as much as a Michelin-starred dinner, we dollar-cost-average the meal by opening wine from our own stash, and truffling not veal osso buco but eggs (extra abundant on the sixth day of Christmas, right:)?

What wine with truffled eggs?  French red Burgundy wines (made from the Pinot Noir grape) and Italian Barolo or Barbaresco (reds made from the Nebbiolo grape) are the classic matches with truffles. Sparkling wine or Champagne are the classic matches with eggs, and a vintage bottling or a toasty-yeasty style of bubbly is superb with truffles. Bottle-aged, best-quality Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc (think Vouvray or Savennieres), or Riesling all echo the truffle in their bottle-aged bouquets–another yummy option if you’ve got access to them. So many wines, so little time–and too few truffles unless you’re a Twitter mogul. In which case I am available for private somm duty on truffle night ;)!

Enjoy this truffled eggs how-to video with my friend and our local truffle king, Michelin-starred Chef Ken Frank, in his La Toque restaurant kitchen. Ken is one of America’s greatest chefs and nicest guys, so eat at La Toque or the more casual Bank in the Westin Verasa Napa when next you are out here.  And if you can make it during truffle season, it will be the best date you’ve ever had!