Trader Joe's White Truffle Popcorn

A few holiday seasons ago, Trader Joe's came out with white truffle chips. The stuff was revolutionary - it sold out everywhere and you couldn't get your hands on it if you tried. Now it's part of the Trader Joe's snack canon. Why such a big deal? It's because you've married a fancy fance bougie ingredient with an everyday junk food. Suddenly, luxury is accessible to the masses, and if there was a year to eat fancy fance junk food in my pajamas, 2020 would be it. 

I like watching chef-y, food travel, and cooking shows. And it seems that there's a camp of professionals that eyeroll at the truffle use. It's almost like the people that eyeroll at pumpkin spice. The thought is that it's been so overused that it's vapid and no longer inspiring. To that I say, let the haters hate. I enjoy a judicious use of truffle - not too much but just enough for a nice umami flavor. 

This popcorn would never survive on my cheese plate. It would be consumed as the cheese plate was being assembled. 

Some very healthy people will object to the use of high-oleic sunflower oil. To which I say, let them object. I don't care. 

 1) Truffle is one of those ingredients you have to have a taste for. It's mushroom-y, in the sense that there's an umami flavor but it doesn't taste like mushrooms. 

2) This is basically a one note popcorn. Like a one octave singer. But if you're only going to have one note, it better be good. Which this is. The truffle flavor is quite strong - any more and it would be too much. This is great if you like truffle, and if you don't like it or can't taste it STEP ASIDE AND LEAVE IT FOR MEEEE. 

2b) The sunflower oil is great. Fat makes stuff taste better. Maybe the next addition could use olive oil?

3) This is also a pretty high quality prepackaged popcorn. I have commented repeatedly on the staleness of some of TJ's past popcorns (some of them were stale to the point where they were almost like packaging peanuts). Not this one! It tastes reasonably fresh, although if this bag were left open for several days of course it would become stale. All the more reason to finish it in one sitting sooner. 

3b) Finishing an entire bag of popcorn seems more virtuous than finishing an entire bag of chips LOL. 

4) As with any packaged snack food, there's also the issue of the seasoning settling to the bottom of the package. Which means that the popcorn pieces at the top of the bag tend to be less salty and the ones towards the bottom have a heavier truffle flavor and more salt. Not sure what you can do to mitigate this, but it is what it is. 

5) $2.99 for a bag is pretty reasonable for a "premium flavored" snack. Stock. Up. Y'all. 

TL;DR: Trader Joe's White Truffle Popcorn. Fancy fance truffle popcorn. The one to give to your truffle-loving friends and family. Or to hoard. You choose. 9 out of 10. Mantou Joe repurchase? YAAASSSS.