Until recently, truffles were a limited winter speciality. With the advent of the Aussie version, gourmets are treated to a second flush from June to September. Australians began transplanting trees inoculated with truffle spores from France almost two decades ago, and Hongkongers are starting to reap the benefits.
This year, about 60 Australian growers will produce an estimated 4.5 tonnes of black truffles, most of which are exported, says Graham Duell, president of the Australian Truffle Growers Association. He expects that by 2016, output will rise to 10 tonnes. Truffle farms are scattered across Australia, bar the Northern Territory.
Truffles haven't been easy to cultivate; farmers were breaking new ground. "It was a challenge. Truffles had never been grown in the southern hemisphere. There was no book to tell you how to grow truffles in our soils," says Tim Terry, a Perigord truffle farmer from Tasmania, who runs Truffles Australis. Terry tried growing them under hazelnut trees first, as is common in France, to no avail. "They were a total failure," he says. "We lost about 10 years of our lives because we had the wrong trees." Terry moved to oaks with better success, and now supplies five-star kitchens throughout Asia.
Australia's truffles grow on privately run trufferies, or farms. This means they aren't immediately whipped out of the ground, unlike their French counterparts, of which many grow on public property and are so highly sought after they are plucked on discovery.
Terry's hunters sniff the ground to assess maturity, and leave flags in the soil if their olfactory senses are not satisfied. The truffle is harvested once its aroma reaches a peak. "Once you cut a truffle it'll die," says Terry.
Terry, who has supplied truffles to chefs such as Richard Ekkebus at Amber, says his truffles have a particularly thick, syrupy fragrance that speaks of the unique soil and cool Tasmanian climate, which differs from those grown in other parts of Australia. The truffles broadcast their terroir "a bit like a good wine", he says. And just like French-grown truffles, the aroma gets better as the season progresses, hitting a high point mid-season.