What’s in Season: Truffles

Despite the odd passing complaint, there are lots of reasons Canberrans look forward to the arrival of winter.

A renewed appreciation of the radiant sun on a crisp Saturday morning with a coffee in hand, cheering on the Green Machine whenever they play at their concrete wind-bowl in Bruce, loading up the station wagon for a few days at Thredbo, and of course, for chefs and foodies alike, winter heralds the beginning of truffle season.

This highly prized black fungus is held in high esteem in gourmet culinary culture, pairing well with cheese, eggs, pasta, and meat. The flavour of truffles can be described as musky and earthy, but anyone who has tried them before can tell you that their flavour is uniquely distinct and hard to summarise in a few words.

The Canberra region is blessed to have the perfect conditions for growing some varieties of truffle, and there are several local farms and producers who do just that.

La Truffiere, a chemical-free truffle farm in Wamboin, will have fresh truffles at the Market available this Saturday, June 12. Their trees are inoculated with the Périgord black truffle, and they use natural methods of preservation to increase the shelf life of their truffles by up to six months.

Other local truffle producers you can find at the Market this week include Turalla Truffles, who have a farm near Bungendore, and Terra Preta Truffles from just outside Braidwood.

Due to the limited truffle season and the popularity of truffle products, we recommend contacting your truffle supplier of choice during the week prior to the Market to ensure you don’t miss out and so our stallholders can adjust the quantities they bring accordingly.