It’s truffle season! I haven’t been on a truffle hunt in years, so when my friend Brontosaurus Bites invited me on a truffle hunt followed by a 6-course truffle brunch (as a guest) at The Truffle Farm, I jumped at the chance.
As I drive in to The Truffle Farm for a 9.30am start, I’m met at the gate by a man dressed warmly for the cold weather. He gives me directions to follow the road up and park to the right of a small building where I can see other cars already parked. It feels like one of the windiest days in Canberra, and I don’t really want to leave my car. Guests are met by The Truffle Farm owner, Jayson, and seated at one of the four long timber dining tables – it’s communal style seating.
We’re given wines, or Altina non-alcoholic wines in our case, as we wait for everyone booked into the morning’s hunt to arrive. A house made truffle-infused kombucha and pork crackling with truffle salt is provided.
Once everyone is seated with drinks, Jayson gives us his background and talks about how he came to train dogs and the history of the farm. It’s all very interesting. We then set out with truffle dog, Willow, to find some truffles.
Even though it is such a windy day, it does not take Willow long to find some truffles. Jayson follows Willow’s lead – her nose easily detects the truffle scent as she weaves in and out between the trees. Willow paws at the ground, and that’s when we can start digging.
The property is large with more trees being planted. Did you know it can take a decade from planting for a truffle to form? That’s dedication.
It’s time to head back inside to start our 6-course truffle degustation by Table by Canberra Gourmet, headed by Chef Thomas Heinrich. It’s nearly 11.00am, so I’m pretty hungry.
Course 1 and 2 – We start off with the prettiest dish of the degustation. A creamy (cheese?) filled crispy roll topped with calamansi gel. But my favourite is the truffle cured tuna tart, with peas and goat fetta. So fresh, with a bit of crunch and perfect combination of flavours.
Course 3 – Next are the pancakes with maple duck bacon (omg) and truffle butter. I didn’t like it drenched in maple syrup – I would have preferred to pour the quantity of my choice. So I tried to eat this as quickly as I could to avoid the pancakes being completely soaked up by syrup. That maple duck bacon is delicious – sweet and salty at the same time!
A bowl of the truffles dug up that morning, after being washed and scrubbed, is passed around. You’re looking at around $2,000 – $3,000 per kilo of these French black truffles (Périgord truffles).
Course 4 – The eggs benedict comes on a crab cake (such a great idea) which completely levels up the regular English muffin/toast combo. I always hold my breath when I cut into a poached egg. This one did not disappoint with a silky oozy yolk spilling out. The hollandaise is infused with truffle, but I must admit the truffle taste was very subtle.
Course 5 – We are told to eat each agnolotti with pepper and truffle oil in one bite so the truffle flavour is not lost within the broth. Delicious and I loved that hint of pepper in the background.
Course 6 – 12 hour beef short rib with truffle artichoke cream, salt and pepper chips, topped with shaved truffle. The tender thin slice of marinated short rib works so well with the more subtle artichoke. I couldn’t taste much truffle in the dish.
We ended with a chocolate tart with truffle, coconut toasted Swiss meringue, topped with freeze dried mandarin. This was creamy but not too heavy. I love ending with chocolate!
One of the chefs introduces each dish at the beginning of each course. The truffle degustation comes with matched wines for each course. For those drinking non-alcoholic wines, we had to ask for top ups of the single Altina since there’s no matching available. My favourite dishes were the tuna tart, eggs benedict and agnolotti, but really, everything was excellent!
See my reel below:
The Truffle Farm’s truffle hunt and degustation is around 3 hours long. You can book a truffle hunt and truffle degustation at The Truffle Farm’s website.
Table by Canberra Gourmet also offers monthly 12 and 18 course dinner degustations – check their website for dates.
The Truffle Farm
23 Mount Majura Rd, Majura ACT
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