Healthy eating is already a popular trend that’s only going to get bigger in 2012. There is evidence that the American population is embracing a more wholesome diet. Restaurant businesses and food companies are responding to consumer demands for healthier food options by making them available on menus and store shelves (e.g. sugar free, gluten-free, no high fructose corn syrup, no preservatives, etc.). It’s not just a marketing move. People want healthier choices and healthier choices sell.

While the healthy food movement has been around for some time, I personally credit the Great Recession of 2007-2009 as its stimulant. Hard times have a way of making people refocus or wake up. For instance, losing your job, being depressed and realizing you don’t have the money to pay for health care might be good incentives for wanting to start a healthier diet.

Eating smart makes a physical difference. Studies have shown that by simply switching to a healthier diet, you naturally reduce the amount of calories you consume, which aids in weight loss (read Study: The Best and Worst Foods for Healthy Weight, TIME: Healthland). A healthier diet can also help fight depression (see Foods that Fight Winter Depression, WebMD).

A combination of research, observation of local food market shelves and restaurant menus (plus a little intuition) has lead me to craft a list of growing healthy food trends for the Washington DC area in 2012. These trends aren’t likely to go anywhere, but on your plate. You might agree with this list or you might not. Whatever your thoughts or food trend predictions, feel free to leave them in the comment section below!

1. Alternative Red Meats

Beef is still going to reign as the king of meats for burgers in 2012, but its over popularity and ties with unhealthy mass production techniques (e.g., use of hormones, antibiotics, and questionable cow feed) might just propel less popular, but healthier alternatives such as ostrich, bison and buffalo into the limelight. However, here’s a food for thought: our healthier alternatives are only as healthy as the production methods that are applied to them. If the ostrich, bison, and buffalo—as a food source over a long period of time—were subject to the same demands and mass production techniques as the cow, would they remain our healthy alternatives?

Read More: Ostrich, the Fate of the Healthier Red Meat

The gluten-free diet began with individuals who suffered from Celiac disease (see Celiac disease for more information), but sometime between 2010-2011, the diet seemed to have caught fire with non-celiacs in the Washington DC area. If you are like most curious individuals, you are probably wondering why and why now? The “why now” will always be a mystery, but the why might have something to do with Oprah, Dr. Oz, Gwyneth Paltrow and other celebrities who have openly expressed their new dietary pursuits in the last few years. With a little bit of research, I discovered three reasons for why non-celiacs are embracing a gluten-free diet: 1) Prevention: It’s a fact that those with gluten sensitivities can develop Celiac disease later in life (see Celiac article by USA Today). Those without a gluten sensitivity need not worry. Unfortunately, a portion of the non-gluten-sensitive population seem to think they might have a sensitivity and have decided to adopt the diet. 2) Weight loss: some people have the misguided notion that a gluten-free diet can help you lose weight when in fact, a gluten-free diet can actually lead to weight-gain because many gluten-free products are packed with carb substitutes that have little fiber (see Bad-Mouthing Gluten, Time Magazine Health). 3) Healthier for You Notion: According to some experts (see Bad-Mouthing Gluten, Time Magazine Health), some people have the idea that a gluten-free diet is overall healthier for you. It is only better for you if you have a gluten sensitivity, but makes no difference if you do not. The gluten-free diet serves only as a preventative measure of those with gluten sensitivities and Celiac disease.

3. Breakfast Options in Typically Lunch-only Restaurants

I’ve noticed a growing trend among lunch-only restaurants where breakfast options are being added to the menu (see Chipotle Mulls Breakfast, Healthy Items, Huffington Post)—a business strategy that appears to compete with neighboring restaurants that are kicking butt during the lunch hour; or perhaps the breakfast menu is a ploy to cash-in on the health movement which says that breakfast eaters are statistically skinner than their non-breakfast eating compadres (see Lose Weight: Eat Breakfast, WebMD). Perhaps a stretch, but whatever the case, it works for breakfast eaters and you’ll see more of this in 2012.

4. Dark Chocolate in Savory Dishes

In America, chocolate typically falls under the desert category, and more recently in years as part of a healthy breakfast option (when eaten in small amounts). However, Europe, Northern Mexico and Mesoamerica have been using chocolate in savory dishes for years (see Chocolate’s Savory Side, Gourmet; Chocolate Savories for Your Sweet, NPR). America is only now beginning to explore the next step in the chocolate revolution. I’ve already seen a few chocolate savory marinades and sauces on store shelves and online, and I’ve noticed a growth in savory chocolate recipes within the past four months since I last did research on the topic. It is just a matter of time before the second chocolate revolution, or savory chocolate fad, takes hold of America and I predict 2012 will be the year to bring it home.

Read More: A Taste of Olio’s Porcini Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Chocolate Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar

5. Quinoa as a Substitute or Option on Restaurant Menus

With the exception of the custom salad chain restaurants that have integrated quinoa into their menu, this popular little seed is making its way onto your plate as something more than just a salad garnish. Quinoa’s healthy properties make it an ideal substitute for brown rice and whole wheat pastas. Some restaurants have already begun to add it to their menu as the main dish (e.g. Freshii’s Menu). Quinoa’s growing popularity might make it more common on restaurant menus.

6. Alternative Healthy Chips

I give credit to the raw foodies and vegetarians for the popularity of the alternative healthy chip, which is anything but a potato or a chip made from powdered rice, corn, or beans. The healthy chip is an actual piece of a vegetable or fruit that has been baked or air popped/crisped and eats like a chip. A good example is the kale chip (see Potato chips, Rice chips…Kale chips?, Food News & Reviews), which is essentially kale leaves that are misted with olive oil and baked. Nothing more is done to it. What qualifies it as a chip is its crunchiness. The true healthy chip is, well, healthier for you than any flour-based chip you’ll come across on store shelves. Some food companies have caught on to the healthy chip idea and have created products for the health conscious buyer (e.g., Rhythm Superfoods), but, as with all products that claim to be “healthier” for you, beware of added ingredients. Always read the labels.

7. Sprouted Grains Will Sprout into New Products

The sprouted grain concept has been on store shelves for awhile, but only recently has it taken off—thanks to the healthy food movement—into newer food products (e.g. Sprouted Grain Pizza from A.C. LaRocco). A sprouted grain is a kernel (be it wheat, rye, rice, etc.) that has been allowed to sprout before it is grounded and made into bread. There are two approaches to the sprouting method: grounding dried sprouts and grounding wet sprouts. The latter is often referred to as flourless (see Sprouted Whole Grains, Whole Grains Council). According to the Whole Grains Council, sprouting increases the “amount and bio-availability” of certain vitamins and minerals. The enzymatic activity that occurs during the sprouting process is said to make the grain more digestible. The Whole Grains Council provides a lists of studies that show the benefits of sprouted grains. On the other hand, according to some researchers, the nutritional value of the sprouted grain is only significant when compared to white bread, but has little edge over whole grain breads (see Sprouted-grain breads: the facts, Los Angeles Times). Whatever the case, be prepared to see more sprouted grain products on store shelves.

8. Raw Food Restaurants

The raw food diet is as controversial as it is popular. When I delved into this topic, I was surprised to discover a number of fringe subgroups consisting of fruitarians, sproutarians, juicearians and raw meat dieters (see raw foodism, Wikipedia). The raw food diet consists of eating uncooked (or heated to no more than 118 ° F) and unprocessed food. This diet was born on the idea that eating raw foods is healthier for you because the naturally occurring enzymes in raw food help with digestion. However, according to the American Dietetic Association, it’s not the food, but the body that produces the enzymes needed for digestion (see Raw Food Diet, WebMD). While the raw food diet is popular, the number of health problems associated with this lifestyle are unfortunately too numerous to adapt (for a list of health problems, go here). Common sense tells you that certain foods are naturally not meant to be eaten raw (e.g. a butternut squash is too hard to consume. Cooking not only makes it softer, but kills harmful bacteria.). But the idea of health sells (even if what’s selling isn’t all that healthy), so don’t be surprised to find an explosion of raw food restaurants opening up in the Washington DC area in 2012.

Stop overcooking them! The unpopularity of the brussels sprouts has much to do with a lack of knowledge on how to properly prepare these wonderful cancer-fighting leafy spuds.

Brussels sprouts are miniature wild cabbages that grow in spirals on a stalk. They contain a chemical called sulforaphane, which has anticancer properties (brussels sprout, Wikipedia).

When overcooked, these sprouts release an organic compound known as glucosinolate sinigrin, which has a sulphurous odor (in my experience, the odor conjures up memories of melted plastic wrap) and it is this odor that has given the brussels sprout its bad rep (brussels sprout, Wikipedia).

So how do you prepare brussels sprouts to avoid the sulphurous stink? Keep in mind that brussel sprouts have a natural cabbage smell and if you’re not a fan of cabbage, you’re not going to like brussel sprouts either way. Now if you love cabbage, then listen up.

Brussels sprouts are best prepared lightly stir fried in olive oil and sea salt (or kosher salt) for about one or two minutes until slightly tender and the edges of the leaves begin to turn brown. Boiling them is a bad idea since this causes them to turn mushy and lose flavor.

Brussels sprouts are also great eaten raw like a salad. Cut them width wise into circles (length wise down the middle if you’re stir frying) and loosen the leaves with your fingers (or you can leave them intact as circles). Mist with olive oil and sprinkle sea salt or kosher salt to taste. I tried this recipe on a relative who gave me the thumbs up and she was not a big fan of cabbage.

The moral of the story: Know your vegetables and learn how to best to prepare them, because preparing foods the right way is part of the secret to loving them, right? I thought so.

You heard right: Kale, as in the healthy green leaf now eatable as a chip. I was introduced to this alternative healthy snack from a co-worker, who bought it at a nearby Sweet Green. Earlier this year, Sweet Green introduced its Krispy Kale (see Sweet Green blog).

Although kale chips have been around for awhile and popular among raw-food foodies and vegans, a bit of Google research reveals a growing trend with this tasty little snack, from fast food joints offering it on their menus to grocery stores stocking it on their shelves. As food guru, Phil Lempert from ABS News best put it, 2011 just might be “the year of Kale” (see ABC’s News coverage). But just how healthy is the Kale as a chip? Well, that depends on how you prepare it.

Kale is a type of hardy cabbage with curled, incised leaves (merriam-webster.com). It is rich in vitamins A, C and K and it has been known to have antioxidant properties, which is good for fighting cancer (see The Truth About Kale on Webmd.com). Kale comes in two colors: green and purple (Wikipedia.org).

There is no doubt Kale is healthy, but just like any superfood, the way you prepare it can change its “healthy” status. For example, you wouldn’t want to fry or bake Kale in hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils. You might as well snack on a spoon full of Trans fats and forget about your body-conscious efforts.

So, how do you make this delicious healthy snack? The video below shows you. Although, I recommend not drenching your kale leaves in olive oil, but lightly mist them instead so that only a thin layer of olive oil is on the leaves.

Chipotle has a sibling in town, the new ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen, which debuted in Dupont Circle in September. Shophouse offers quick, healthy, customizable Southeast Asian theme meals. The ordering experience is very similar to Chipotle in which you can choose a food style: a lunch bowl or a báhn mì sandwich. For the lunch bowl, you start by picking a starchy base and from there you choose a protein, vegetable, sauce, garnish, and topping. For the báhn mì sandwich, you pick a protein. We both love spicy food and Chipotle, so after a few lunches, we believe we can give a fairly accurate review of their food.

Sarah’s first rice bowl consisted of jasmine rice, grilled chicken satay, Chinese broccoli and spicy red curry sauce garnished with green papaya salad: “The first thing I noticed was the awesome heat from the red curry sauce. Hurray! Underwhelming spicy food is infuriating. However, I was not thrilled with the chicken satay. While there were a few tasty bits of charred chicken, many of the chunks were dominated by gristle and fat. The Chinese broccoli was crisp, tender, and spicy. I think the green papaya salad would have been great as a side dish instead of piled on top of everything else. The salad dressing gave part of my meal an odd vinegary taste.”

During her second visit, she ordered a bowl with tofu, long beans, and the spicy curry sauce with chopped peanuts and herb salad: “The crumbled tofu was outstanding! The texture was just right—firm, but not grainy and the turmeric-based spices gave it a nice kick. The long beans were grilled, which gave them more flavor than I was expecting. Topped with herbs and chopped peanuts instead of the papaya salad, this bowl lacked the weird vinegar taste that tainted my last bowl. It was seriously good!”

Carlos ordered the báhn mì sandwich with slight trepidation: “I have had the sandwich several times before at family-run Vietnamese restaurants and was wary of how ShopHouse might have westernized the báhn mì to appease the mainstream American pallet. Overall, I was pleased with the taste of it. I ordered the sandwich with grilled steak and it came with green papaya slaw, crushed peanuts, and what they were calling an ‘herb salad.’ The herb salad was more like tiny pieces of herb leaves, not sure if that qualifies as a salad. One thing that I wish they would do more is to promote their vegetable items as separate side dishes. I requested a side of spicy charred corn that was delicious and had a nice kick to it.” 

For the amount of food you get, we feel that $8.00 is a bit much for a báhn mì sandwich, seeing you can get one at a mom-and-pop Vietnamese restaurant for $4 to $5. But when those restaurants are priced out of the neighborhood by large chains, what other choice do you have? Overall, ShopHouse is pretty good when you want something simple, asian and spicy.

Olio Tasting Room is a unique oil and vinegar shop located in Old Town Alexandria. If you happen to be in the Washington DC metropolitan area, I recommend you check it out (see Olio Tasting Room Opens in Old Town Alexandria).

This unique shop offers its visitors the opportunity to taste a variety of specialty olive oils and balsamic vinegars before buying. You’ll find a variety of flavors from Blood Orange olive oil to Honey & Ginger White balsamic vinegar.

All of the oils and vinegars are made in Modena, Italy. The balsamic vinegars are aged 18 years (12 years for white balsamic) and are infused with extracts. The olive oils are freshly made and either infused with extract or fused with an ingredient (e.g. garlic crushed with olives).

Reviewing just one oil or one vinegar from an oil & vinegar store did not make sense, so I chose to review both. While there were many interesting flavors, I selected the Porcini Extra Virgin Olive Oil and the Chocolate Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar based on 1) personal preference and 2) versatile properties. These two products, however, are very distinct from each other and do not pair well together.

Porcini Extra Virgin Olive Oil

At the store, there were two mushroom flavors to choose from, Black Truffle Garlic Olive Oil and Porcini Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I chose the Porcini oil because it was not combined with any other ingredient (e.g. garlic). I wanted to experience just the mushroom flavor. Plus, truffle oil is over hyped these days due to high prices and low affordability. The porcini oil offered a fresh alternative.

According to Penny Willimann, co-owner of Olio Tasting Room, the best way to flavor an oil is by using an extract. I put this claim to the test by adding it to a stir fry of pork, vegetables, portabello mushrooms and pasta. Now I did not fry with this oil, only added it, because the intense heat destroys the quality of the oil and degrades the flavor. If you intend to cook with it, do so at a very low heat.

The results on my stir fry was a strong wonderful woody mushroom flavor that melded well with the vegetables, meat, and pasta. It also livened up the flavor of the portabellos. Overall, this is an excellent product. If I had to give it one small complaint, it would be that perhaps the woody flavor is a bit too strong that it gives a slightly bitter or acidulous aftertaste. However, it disappears when the oil is combined with food.

The Porcini Extra Virgin Olive Oil can also be used on scrambled eggs or to enhance the mushroom flavor on recipes that call for mushrooms. Below is a recipe found on Epicurious where you can substitute the regular olive oil with the Porcini Extra Virgin Olive Oil and use portabello mushrooms instead of porcini.

Recipe: Porcini Mushroom Sauce.

Chocolate Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar

The versatility of this balsamic vinegar is the reason why I chose it. I was informed that it can be drizzled on desserts, used in baked goods and on meat as a marinade. The latter caught my attention as I was somewhat skeptical of a chocolate-raspberry combination on meat. Don’t get me wrong, I love using fruit marinades, but it was more the chocolate component than the raspberry that had me wondering. A recent trend in the United States has been to use chocolate as a marinade, especially on pork.

I had to try this out for myself. I marinaded fresh pork for 45 minutes in the chocolate-raspberry balsamic vinegar and added Kosher salt. Then stir fried it. The chocolate and raspberry combination gave the pork an interesting new taste that is a little hard to describe, but it was definitely tasty. The pork was not overly sweet, chocolaty or raspberry-ish, although you could detect the remnants of those flavors.

Without a doubt, the Chocolate Raspberry Balsamic is versatile. If you want to give your meat a new dimension, I recommend it. However, I think its properties are best reserved on salads, deserts, and baked goods. Below are two recipes found on Everyday Dish and How2Heroes, respectively, where you can substitute regular balsamic with the Chocolate Raspberry balsamic vinegar.

Recipes: Raspberry Chocolate Cupcakes and Red Velvet Cupcakes.

Learn the various ways you can cook with balsamic vinegar. Watch “Cooking with Balsamic Vinegar” segment from In Wine Country:

Want fresh ginger that never molds and always stays fresh without the use of preservatives? Well, keep it out of the fridge and stick it into the freezer!

It’s easier to shave and grate when frozen, but don’t let it melt. The moisture within the fibers of the ginger crystallizes and destroys the fibers, causing the root to become soft and flexible. Plus, shaving the skin is better when frozen, because it comes off easier and you retain more of the ginger flesh.

Enjoy fresh ginger whenever you want!

Use Tip: Add fresh grated ginger to your favorite vanilla ice cream for an added kick.

Will that be beef or ostrich? Ostrich is quickly becoming the popular alternative red meat for health dieters. Ostrich farms are cropping up all over the United States and the meat is making its way into restaurants and markets.

Ostriches are large flightless birds. However, unlike chicken and turkey, the meat is red. According to the USDA Nutrient Data table and the World Ostrich Association, Ostrich meat is lower in saturated fat and calories than beef, chicken, turkey, and pork. In fact, it is so lean, that it doesn’t shrink when you cook it. Ostrich is also high in protein and iron, and its flavor is similar to beef, but with a slightly sweeter taste.

With ostrich meat popularity on the rise, one has to wonder if this healthier red meat could one day replace the cow. Ostriches are already mass-produced in many countries, including the United States. They are widely used for their skin, feathers, and oil. And now with their meat becoming popular on the menu, it would be weird to one day hear something like “Ostrich, it’s what’s for dinner” by some future Ostrich Checkoff Program.

There are a few ostrich farms throughout the United States with a few right here on the East Coast. However, part of the charm of the ostrich meat is not just that it’s healthier, but it’s also not so massively produced as the cow meat, at least not yet.

High demands for a product usually places high stress on production and supply. We have seen this happen with chicken, pork, and beef. And sadly, along with mass production, the humane treatment of animals also tends to take a dip. Although this is not the case with every farmer, it is the case with factory farming. If you need to use mass-production techniques to meet mass consumer demands, humane treatment will be an issue.

When it comes to health, beef’s popularity has taken a nose dive with mad cow, saturated fat content, and links to early mortality. While ostrich has a lower saturated fat and calorie content, it is still a red meat with cholesterol levels as high as beef.

High consumer demands of animal products and monetary greed leads to mass production which introduces antibiotics, hormones, questionable feed, and overpopulation in limited spaces—as we’ve seen done with beef, chicken, pork, and turkey, is the ostrich next in line? Or would the ostrich replace the cow, and the cow become the ostrich? Only time would tell. I hear buffalo burgers are pretty good.

A neighbor of mine got this tip from a friend. How do you get naturally sweet corn without adding sugar?

Well, for one, you don’t add sugar substitutes. The secret is in how you cook the corn.

When you buy fresh corn, make sure to get them with the full husk. Don’t peel the husk off, just stick the whole thing inside a microwave (no need to add water) and cook on high for 3 minutes.

The corn’s natural juices steam within the husk and the result is a much sweeter tasting corn. Try it for yourself and see!

These gourmet empanadas will have you salivating and wanting to stuff yourself!

Empanadas are typically fried, but for a healthier option, you can bake these with a little oil brushed on top.

Main Ingredients:

1. Sweet Italian Sausage – 20 oz
2. Red Bell Pepper – 1 cup, finely chopped
3. Vidalia Onion – 1 cup, finely chopped
4. Golden Delicious Apple – 1 cup finely chopped
5. Empanada Discos (turnover dough discs—you can find them in the international section of your local grocery store)

Condiments

1. Minced garlic – 2 tablespoons

Preparation

1. Mix red bell pepper, onion, apples, and minced garlic together in a bowl
2. Add the sweet italian sausage meat to the mix
3. Add combined mixture to a hot skillet and cook until meat is fully cooked (and fluid built up from the vegetables has evaporated). Do not brown meat or allow meat to dry out. Meat must be oily so that the filling is moist after baking. Allow to cool a little.
4. Before filling the pastry dough, mix the meat in the bowl again so that the oil spreads. The oil tends to collect at the bottom when the meat sits still. Each measured filling should be oily.
5. Follow the instructions for your pastry dough. You might need to spread the dough a little using a rolling pin. (Optional: if the dough on your first batch tastes kind of plain, before baking your second batch, sprinkle confectionate sugar and a little salt over the unbaked dough to bring out the flavor).
6. Fill the center of the dough with 2 or 3 tablespoons of meat.
7. Fold the dough in half and press the sides together with a fork.
8. If baking, lightly brush the tops of the empanadas with oil, then place in the oven to bake at 375° (note: preheat oven before filling empanadas). If frying, make sure to add enough oil to cover the top of the empanada. Fry until they are a light brown. Remove quickly and place on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.

Enjoy with friends and family!

Yes, truffles can be expensive just as the image to your left demonstrates. You often hear food connoisseurs express how wonderful they smell and taste that you must try it for yourself and be amazed. If high prices have anything to do with smell and taste, the truffle would have to be one amazing fungus, plus all good tasting food would be nearly impossible to afford. Fortunately for us, smell and taste has little to do with how expensive these ugly little tubers (or fungi to be exact) are.

A truffle’s value is dictated by the economic formula of supply and demand: High demand + short supply = high price

You don’t have to be a whiz at economics to understand the above concept. The human reaction to high demands for products that are not easily and readily available is to jack up the price. Why? Because the seller knows that there will always be someone willing to pay a higher price for a product that is highly desired and in short supply.

Other than society’s insatiable taste for the rare and unobtainable, another contributing factor to the truffle’s short supply has much to do with the nature of how truffles grow and mature. A truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean fungus that lives on the roots of certain trees (e.g Oak, European Filbert or Hazel) in a symbiotic relationship. Truffles cannot be grown the way you would a fruit or vegetable. Suitable host tree seedlings must be inoculated with the fungus to ensure mycorrhization (or fungal colonization).

Truffles take time to grow and mature. In about 5 years, they can be harvested, but the method to harvest them is also painfully slow. Truffles cannot be seen by the human eye, so a dog or sow (a female pig) is needed to sniff them out. Female pigs do not need to be trained to find truffles because the scent of a truffle mimics the sex hormones of a male pig (see Truffles: Why Pigs Can Sniff Them Out). They only need to be put on a leash and walked through a truffle grove. However, a sow will eat the truffle that it finds. Training it to not eat the reward is more difficult than training a dog to sniff it out.

There are two main types of truffles, black and white, and they come in varieties. Over the last ten years, several truffle growing farms have cropped up. The Black Périgord Truffle (aka Black Winter truffle) can be successfully cultivated (see Garland Truffles), while the Italian White Truffle must continue to be harvested from the wild as it cannot be successfully cultivated. The white truffle is harder to obtain, thus the higher price.

John Magazino, owner of Primizie, an importer and distributer of gourmet foods, says that there has been a “decline over the last 15 years in both quantity and quality of white truffles” (see White Truffles: Why They’re Worth 2,000 a Pound).

In my opinion, no fungus is worth $2,000/lb unless it can cure you of some ailment. Fortunately, the Black Périgord Truffle is a little more affordable and prices vary depending on season. For example, I was able to buy two Black Périgord truffles at Wegmans for $4.00 (the price dropped from $1,000/lb to $199/lb) simply because the season for them had ended and the Summer Truffles were coming in. Each truffle ball weighed 0.01 lb and I could have bought more for less than $10.00.

Was it worth it? For the price I paid, yes, but anything much more and I might have felt silly.

On the other hand, I am a self-proclaimed food connoisseur and as a food expert, it is my job to report back to you about the food extraordinaire. (Disclaimer: so long as it’s legal and not disgusting).

The Black Périgord is best enjoyed when cooked briefly in low heat. It has a deep mushroom flavor (note: truffles are not mushrooms) that is earthy and woody and smells kind of like cheese when freshly grated. The smell and flavor of truffles degrades over time. If fresh truffles are not available locally, you can buy them online or save a few bucks and try alternatives such as truffle infused oils (note: they do not contain truffles, just the scent and flavor) or synthetic truffle oil that mimics (to some degree) what truffles smell and taste like.