Trader Joe's Shoppers Are Pumped For Its Truffle Cream Filled Gnocchi
Trader Joe's shoppers beware. A new truffle-flavored offering has been shared on Instagram, causing salivation to form slipping threats throughout the aisles. Yesterday, Trader Joe's List, the self-proclaimed "ORIGINAL" of the non-affiliated Trader Joe's find accounts, posted a picture on Instagram showing a bag of Truffle Cream Filled Gnocchi. Priced at $3.99, they wrote, "These tender gnocchi are perfectly flavored for all you truffle lovers!" You can add mushrooms for a more complex taste, or if you want to fuse two massive fads, air-fry them at 375°F for 12 minutes.
Of course, Instagram loved this. As of this writing, over 22,000 people have liked the post. "I love truffle season!!!!!" one raved. Another tried to outmatch them in enthusiasm with "These are AMAZING. Like a truffle gusher!" Both, however, might have been by "TRUFFLE ALL THE THINGS!"
That said, not everyone is so enraptured with the newest attempt to hop on the truffle train and the gnocchi trend. Trader Joe's Food Reviews, another Instagram account, gave the product a 6.5 out of 10 in their post: "I find some grocery store truffle products are very hit or miss... The cream inside had a pretty good truffle flavor, but the texture was watery which I didn't enjoy." Perhaps they should try it again, but this time dump it in the air fryer.
How is this truffle product so cheap?
If the price tag makes you do a double-take, you'd be right. A quick internet search shows that a very common adjective for truffle is "expensive." Just taking the 2016 price of black truffle per ounce of $95 that Mental Floss gives, one might not expect to find it in an affordable form. Yet here is a very affordable bag of gnocchi flavored with the devils. What's going on?
One thing to note is that in the ingredient list shared by Trader Joe's Food Reviews, black truffles appear third to last in the ingredient list, barely beating out "natural flavors" and black pepper. So, one might conclude that there's not much truffle in there. One commenter spoke directly to this issue: "Truffle products are so hit or miss for me in general! Honestly seeing an inexpensive truffle product makes me skeptical as it is."
However, other Trader Joe's fans were clearly satisfied with how truffle-full this gnocchi is on its own or found ways to boost the truffle factor. As one commenter wrote, "This was really good tossed with the mushroom truffle pesto and topped with Trader Joe's truffle pecorino cheese." And while not everyone was wowed, a number of people expressed their "need" for this gnocchi.