What a better way to spend a cold rainy winter's day, than going on a truffle hunt. Traditionally, in Europe, truffles were hunted by the farmers pig. I do recall reading many years ago that the old greedy farmers would only take their pigs hunting either late at night or very early in the mornings when his neighbours couldn't see under which trees his truffles laid.
The black truffle or "black Périgord truffle" is named after the Périgord region in France and grows beneath oak and hazelnut trees. The truffle industry in Australia is very new, having only surfaced in the past 10 years or so. Through technological advances, the oak and hazelnut trees have been inoculated with truffle fungus, allowing farmers outside of provincial European lands to explore the truffle mystery.
Now why are truffles so exclusive, rare and mysterious? The truffle season is limited to the winter months in Australia. The rainfall during the summer months, will affect the growth and size of the truffle hunted that winter. Thus the cost ... a wooping AUD $2000 per kilo. That equates to $200 per 100gm truffle. The below truffle weighed approx 35gms = $70.
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| Here Colin places a leash on Morris, and as we can see, Morris has lifted his paw in preparation. Morris was excited to truffle hunt, even in the rain. |
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| Colin wears knee pads as he spends many hours kneeling on the ground in searching for 'Black Gold'. |
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| And the hunt begins .... |
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| Morris was trained from a pup developing a keen sense of truffle. |
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| Rewarded with snacks for locating a potential 'nest' of truffles |
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| Sniffing away - Morris locates the specific area of the truffle |
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| Double checking... |
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| Learning how to differentiate the smell of soil from the truffle |
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| Phoebe finding it difficult to smell where the truffle was hiding |
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| The treasure is found! |
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| A very happy truffle bearer boasts the 40gm truffle |
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| Morris digs for gold as the the umbrella-ed bystanders watch on |
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| A well deserved reward.... |
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| A family of truffles - 11 in one nest |
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| Sopping wet but very proud |
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| Nothing comes between a man and his dog |
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| Learning the texture of the truffle, its shape, form, colour, texture and smell |
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| Being inspired |
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| The fine bristles of the old toothbrush are perfect for a gentle clean, removing all dirt without damaging the truffle's exterior |
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Each truffle is washed, weighed and then valued
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| To know the quality of your truffle, always make sure you cut off a small slice to see its inside colour. Anything lighter than caramel indicates the truffle was picked prematurely and is not ready for sale |
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| A perfect inside colour - dark with white lines, dense in texture with an aromatic truffle aroma. |
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| Truffle slicer give an incredible fine shave, perfect for this pungent fruit. |
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| Incredibly delicious, with the freshly gathered nuts off the hazelnut tree, together with finely grated truffle, together in a jar with honey was spectacular. |
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| and placed on top of goats curd, is sensational! |
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| One ingredient that goes hand in hand with the truffle is eggs. |
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| Simple omelette with shaved truffle is provincal French cooking, rich, creamy and we are just missing one thing here .... the baguette. |
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| And how versatile is the truffle, here we enjoyed truffle ice cream with an egg yolk base. The egg whites made the almond bread. |
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| Breakfast the following morning. We combined grated mozzarella and Parmesan cheese with freshly grated truffle.... |
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| Then we sprinkled that mixture over 12 beaten eggs in a pan .... |
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| Cooked the bottom of the souffle .... |
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| then flipped it in half .... |
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| Voila .... |
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| Here we are preparing the Truffle Hazelnut Honey, grating the fresh truffle. |
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| Sterilised jars being filled with roasted hazelnuts |
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| Combine the truffle with honey, and pour over hazelnuts. Seal. |
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Creamy mash potato with a drizzle of olive oil and shaved truffle is a wonderful accompaniment to meat, chicken or fish.
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Truffles have a shelf life of 7 days, so make the most out of the brief season. Placing a small truffle in Vodka or in a jar of honey, so then it has an unlimited shelf life. Making truffle butter, placing slices under the skin of a chicken before roasting or making truffle salt.
