Oprah Winfrey is a 'truffle freak' who carries her own salt with her when she travels

Los Angeles - Oprah Winfrey insists on special salt wherever she goes.

The media mogul admits she is a "truffle freak" and can't resist the fungi flavour so not only does she request truffle salt to season her food in hotels, she also carries some around with her just in case she is caught short when hungry.

She admitted: "I'm a truffle freak. I walk around with truffle salt, that's on my rider for the hotels. Truffle salt, truffle oil."

The 60-year-old talk show host is even keen to travel to Europe to hunt for truffles with pigs, who are renowned for tracking them down in hard-to-find areas.

She added to the New York Daily News newspaper's Confidenti@l column: "I want to go to Alba, Italy, and do the truffle hunt with the pigs in October."

And Oprah - who has been in a relationship with Steadman Graham since 1986 - admits her signature dish when cooking also involves truffles.

She said: "I'm really good with, unfortunately, pastas. I make a mean pasta with shaved truffles, like a tortellini stuffed with cheese and truffles."