4 ms·

When they say that fake truffle oil has a "intense gas-like aroma," do they mean that literally? Truffle oil doesn't smell/taste like gasoline to me at all

• viciousvoxel 2y ago
  It's not exactly like gas, but it's not not like gas... there's something distinctly petrochemical-like about it and also garlicky, which makes sense since dithiapentane and allicin (the primary component of garlic aroma) are both organosulfur compounds.
  • genocidicbunny 2y ago
    The petrochemical-like aroma is probably due to the sulfur in the dithiapentane. I've noticed that if used at room-ish temperature, most decent truffle oils don't have a strong sulfur-based smell, but if cooked, say on a pizza or a french fry where the temperature gets relatively high, I think some of the dithiapentane might degrade into stuff that's more more reminiscent of petroleum products.
    • toss1 2y ago
      >>I think some of the dithiapentane might degrade into stuff that's more more reminiscent of petroleum products. Seems very likely, considering the process of refining or"cracking" oil into usable products is based on temperature and pressure, and organic compounds in general have different reactivity at different temperatures. In cooking with oils, one of the key properties to consider is their "smoke temperature", above which they will not be cooking your food but smoking and ruining the flavor, so you must select an oil that is good at higher temps than you need to cook the other ingredients. So, it wouldn't be at all surprising if there's a threshold temperature that will break or re-combine the molecules of this artificial "truffle oil" in a way that ruins it.
• Angostura 2y ago
  I wonder if they are talking about the smell added to natural gas, rather than talking about the smell of gasoline
  • BenjiWiebe 2y ago
    That's my thought as well.