Are Truffles Overrated?

It's easy to get annoyed with all the gushing coming from the food industry about truffles. They seem to be the easy, albeit expensive, button celebrity chefs push when trying to impress tasters in cooking competitions (i.e. The Iron Chef). It doesn't take much talent or originality to shave truffle slices on top of a dish to make it taste great. When I was a kid I recall caviar talked about as the ultimate rare food, now it seems truffles are the modern equivalent. So are truffles, or is the truffle flavor, overrated? No. At least not if you like that distinct truffle flavor, which I do, but I guess it's not for everybody. I actually have never cooked with truffles but the wife bought me a small, precious bottle of white truffle oil last Kwanza that I finally used to make a recipe I've eyed for awhile - veal chops with mushroom risotto and truffle oil. The veal chop was pan seared then finished in the oven while the risotto had a mixture of fresh and dried mushrooms. I drizzled the truffle oil over the risotto followed by parmesan shavings. It was one of the better meals of 2005. Truffle oil is so potent you don't need to use very much, assuming you're using good oil and not the Trader Joe's $5/bottle stuff. My advice is to pay the $15 and get some. All you need is a Santoku knife and you can start your own cooking show.