Meet the woman bringing a little piece of rural France to the Wamboin tablelands then to Market

There aren’t many Market stallholders with a story that begins in the truffle forests of southwest France and ends on a 25-hectare property high in the NSW Southern Tablelands. But then, Joelle of La Truffiere is not like most stallholders.

A truffle inheritance from Périgord

Growing up in rural Périgord, truffles were simply part of life. “My father was a keen truffle hunter like many other villagers,” Joelle recalls. “He passed onto me his love for truffles and their natural environment, the truffle terroir.” It was an inheritance that would take decades and a move halfway around the world, to fully bear fruit.

After completing undergraduate studies in Forestry and Agronomy in France and spending her twenties travelling the world, Joelle chose Australia as her adopted home 36 years ago. She went on to raise two children, build a career as an accountant and take up bridge. Truffles, it seemed, were a story from her past.

An experiment that took root

Then one day, she noticed three mature oak trees on her Wamboin property and felt an irresistible pull. “I decided to inoculate them with Tuber Melanosporum,” she says. “It was a shot in the dark. I couldn’t resist the temptation to link oak trees with truffles.” That experiment began in 2008 and has now grown into La Truffiere – a farm of 400 trees at 900 metres altitude, with scorching summers, snowy winters and mobs of kangaroos.

The host trees are a variety of oaks, each inoculated using a recipe Joelle varies according to the species. Maintaining the alkaline soil conditions that truffles demand requires annual soil analysis and keeping the kangaroos at bay is a constant battle.

French cooking, from a Wamboin hillside

Alongside the truffles, Joelle has developed a range of classic French cuisine that has earned a devoted following at the Market. She began cooking during COVID and has never looked back. Her beef bourguignon, made with premium meat supplied by fellow Market stallholder Formichi Smallgoods, is a favourite.

Ten years at the Market

Joelle has been selling at the Market for ten years, introduced by a family friend named Owen. “Customers are knowledgeable and like buying good quality food,” she says. For Joelle, the Market is also something more personal: “The ability to connect directly with my customers and to socialise with people who love what I do.”

La Truffiere sells exclusively to the domestic market, a deliberate choice that reflects Joelle’s commitment to local connection. Whilst she is modest about the years of hard work behind the farm, there is a quiet pride in what she and her partner, Chris, have built on that high-altitude hillside. “Even when we retire,” she reflects, “we will have created a nice, sustainable little forest.”

You will find Joelle and La Truffiere at the Capital Region Farmers Market most Saturdays. Come for the truffles, stay for the truffled salts, butters, cookies, soups, quiches, and of course the beef bourguignon.

P.S. do not be surprised if the conversation turns to the forests of Périgord.