It’s truffle time, and I have a couple of dandy places for you to get a taste of the extremely expensive delicacy.

Do you know about truffles? It’s OK if you don’t. Food knowledge is something that comes in small bites. This may shock you, but I wasn’t born with an encyclopedic knowledge of all things edible (not going to die with one, either — many things yet to discover). But back when I decided I wanted to learn more about food and cooking and fine dining — oh, let’s just say a few decades ago, because that doesn’t sound as bad as a third of a century — I kept hearing about the highly valued truffle, but I had never experienced one.

This was in Scottsdale, Arizona, and I was walking through an upscale department store that had a food court of sorts; nothing as elaborate as the food stalls at Harrod’s in London but better than a Safeway, and with a luncheon counter. There was a sign announcing a special on truffles, so I took a seat and ordered one. Yep, a whole one.

I ate it in one bite, and when I was finished I honestly couldn’t see what all the fuss was about. After all, it tasted just like a piece of chocolate candy.

Well, how was I to know that the truffle everyone swoons over is a fungus, not a chocolate. (In my defense, the chocolate version is so named because of its shape, which is fashioned after the fungus.)

Of course, some time later I learned the distinction, and I discovered why truffles are so precious, and so expensive.

Truffles grow near the roots of trees, usually oaks but sometimes around other types, such as chestnut and hazel, up to a foot underground. You can’t just go digging around the roots of trees hoping to find truffles, so truffle farmers, called trufficulteurs (yes, to their face), use pigs and dogs that are trained to sniff out truffles. Pigs are better at it, but it isn’t so easy to train them not to eat the truffles once they find them. And if you don’t know what it’s like taking a truffle away from a pig, then you haven’t been at a Chinese buffet late on a Friday night when there’s only one egg roll left on the steam table.

But even after the truffle has been detected and pried from the porker, the trufficulteur has to inspect it, being careful not to touch it, which can cause it to rot. After brushing off the dirt (different from rot), the farmer determines if the truffle is ripe, and if it isn’t, reburies it for a later harvest. It’s that painstaking process that keeps the yields low and thus the prices high. How high? Rocco Potami paid a little more than $3000 per pound for his recent shipment. (Now you can see why the farmers yell at the pigs to “spit it out, Arnold!”)

Don’t confuse real truffles with truffle oil, a fairly recent invention that, ironically, is produced without truffles. Most are made with synthesized aromatics. It gets sprayed on everything from pasta to popcorn, and because it is so much cheaper than the real thing, is ofthe used unsparingly, which is not necessarily a good thing.

No, you’ll know it’s a real truffle when you smell it, and when you taste it. And I promise you, it won’t have a chewy caramel center.

If you’d like to taste truffles for yourself, I’ve got a couple of recommendations for you. First, on Sunday, Dec. 12, Kevin Fonzo of K restaurant is having his annual Truffle Dinner, a multi-course orgiastic feast with such things as truffle grilled cheese, truffle gnocchi and truffle ice cream (see below for full proposed menu, which is subject to tweaking). Cost is $65 per person, plus tax and tip. The dinner will begin at 7 p.m. Call 407-872-2332 for reservations. K restaurant is at 2401 Edgewater Drive, Orlando.

You can also get a taste at Rocco’s Italian Grille and Bar in Winter Park where chef/owner Rocco Potami is offering appetizer and entree dishes featuring white truffles. Appetizer run about $45 and entrees are $85. I stopped in the other day and had an appetizer of agnoletti with butter and sage sauce with white truffles shaved over them. I’d tell you exactly what it was like to eat them, but I’ve already used the word orgiastic once in this article. Rocco’s will offer the truffles as long as they last, which probably won’t be through the end of the year, so hurry.

Oh, hey, here’s an idea. Come to Rocco’s Tuesday, Dec. 13, between 6 and 8 p.m. for the signing of my 2012 Restaurant Guide, then stay and have a truffled dinner. Rocco’s is at 400 S. Orlando Ave., Winter Park. The phone number is 407-644-7770.

Here’s the proposed menu for K restaurant’s Truffle Dinner:

Truffle Menu 2011
Monday, December 12

Passed
Scrambled Local Duck Egg, Toast Point, Shaved White Truffle
Cold Water Oyster on the Half Shell, Truffle Mignonette, Caviar
Lobster Truffle “Mac & Cheese”, Fontina Cheese
Warm Cauliflower Bisque, White Truffle
Diver Scallop Carpaccio, Olive Oil, Truffle

Plated Savory
Local Bone Marrow Toast, Chanterelle Mushroom Confit, Black Truffle
Braised Oxtail, Truffle Grilled Cheese
Pan Seared Diver Scallop, Ragout of Wild Mushroom, Burgundy Truffle
Crispy Veal Sweetbread, Truffle Gnocchi, Roast Root Vegetable Ragout
Roast Squab, Squab Leg Confit, Truffle Potato Puree, Porcini Sauce
Truffle Cheese, Dates, Preserves, Crostini

Plated Sweet
White Chocolate Mousse “Tirami-Su”, Candied Chestnuts, White Truffle
White Truffle Ice Cream
Dark Chocolate Truffle