It’s that time of year again! With the gloomy all-day mizzle and frost-kissed mornings comes the glorious silver lining of the Canberra truffle festival. I was lucky enough to spend an afternoon hunting French Black Truffles out at Ruffles Estate along Majura Road last week, and if you’re in the Canberra region, it’s an experience you simply can’t miss.
Sherry McArdle-English is the grower and driving force behind the young but powerful Canberra Truffle Industry. She plays the perfect host and welcomed us all with her contagious smile and bubbly personality. Entering the little shed, the unmistakable aroma of truffles is instantly noticeable and the walls are dotted neatly with photographs of the farm’s beginning, Snuffle the famous truffle dog, as well as some amazing milestone finds.
We were treated to the truffle smell test and group members likened the aroma to a wide variety of strange scents including molasses, seaweed, damp, and smoked oysters. You simply have to smell them to understand the confusion in classifying the scent – it really is something unique to the Northern hemisphere and completely foreign to most of us here in Australia.
The truffle hunt itself is an absolute thrill. Snuffles and Sherry work together as a seamless team to systematically sniff through sections of the 2,500 inoculated trees planted in the quarantined, fenced and heavily monitored area. Snuffles finds the truffle and Sherry provides the reward – making the whole exercise an enticing game. Snuffles made some very exciting discoveries and we were all invited to get down in the dirt and smell the truffles in the ground (if a human can’t smell the truffle, it’s not quite ripe).
After our 20 minute hunt and two finds, Snuffles is off the clock and enjoys all the warranted attention. Back in the truffle shed, QA standards are exceptionally high and the truffles are recorded, cleaned, weighed and graded A, B or C according to their condition. Sherry also provides brochures detailing how to buy, store and cook your truffles. The scrambled eggs with Black Truffle is absolutely divine.
The best Friday of my life continued at 3seeds cooking school at the Fyshwick Fresh Food Markets. If you’re scared of using truffles and haven’t the foggiest when it comes to cooking them, Andrew Haskins has everything covered. It all sounds, looks and tastes very fancy and impressive – but everything is easily achievable in your kitchen at home. Truffle butter, truffled Camembert stuffed into chicken breast sprinkled with truffle salt, lamb loin marinated in truffle infused oil, cauliflower and parsnip puree made with absolute lashings of truffle infused cream and, my favourite, truffled chocolate truffle with a cheeky side of Spanish sherry.
If you’re trying to impress the in-laws or just need a slither of winter luxury, I suggest you get down to the Truffle Season Launch Party, at the Fyshwick Markets on Sunday the 23rd of June. There will be tonnes of truffle inspiration, cooking demonstrations and a truffle long lunch at 3seeds (if you only go out for lunch once a year – make it this one!).
The entire truffle experience from the farm to the kitchen was a huge learning curve and invaluable insight to a growing local industry. If you live in Canberra and have to brave the months of sub-zero temperatures, why not take advantage of the frost, make the glass half full of a lovely local white and check out the truffle festival – it’s an unforgettable and unique Canberra experience.
Just released: Jared Ingersoll is now doing a Truffle Cooking Demonstration at the Fyshwick Markerts at 11am – 2pm on Sunday 23rd June.
The winners will need to pick them up from the markets.
