Truffles
On a crystalline and cool winter morning in Oberon, there is simply nothing better to do than try a truffle hunt.
Pull on your gum boots and winter woollies, and join in the hunt for these rare and luxurious culinary delights.
The mysterious Black Perigold Truffle can be found, if you are lucky, under a canopy of oak and hazelnut trees in a field atop a picturesque hillside at the Lowes Mount Truffiere.
The truffle is an edible fungus with a rich unusual smell grown with love and care by Col and Sue Roberts.
The mysterious existence of these luscious delicacies makes the hunt for them even more rewarding.
The 400 beautiful trees at the truffiere were inoculated with the melanosporum in 2002. From here, it is simply a matter of waiting to see if the trees grow these wonderful black bundles underneath the soil.
The unpredictable nature of the truffle makes the act of hunting for and harvesting it very exciting.
You can accompany Morris and Sully, the lovely Labrador truffle hunting dogs, on their hunt for the truffles. The dogs are harnessed up and begin their sniffing hunt at the base of the trees.
When they smell a truffle, they scratch the surface of the soil to indicate their find, where Col and Sue can begin to dig the truffle by hand.
After your exciting discovery, you can sample some fresh truffle in a number of different products, even truffle ice cream! You can also purchase some truffle products, such as truffle salt and truffle honey.
The largest truffle to be found at Col and Sue’s truffiere was around 270 grams in weight, while truffles are known to grow up to one kilogram in weight. Every truffle has a different smell, and it is the sweet smelling truffles that are most popular to chefs.
The appeal of the truffle is its ability to accentuate the flavours of foods that it accompanies, and is at its best grated over fresh vegetables, scrambled eggs, sliced with meat, or simply placed in a carton of eggs, allowing the truffle to infuse the eggs through their shells.
Truffles can also be infused into oil, butter, salt and honey.
A truffle hunt is the perfect way to enjoy Oberon’s glorious cool climate.
More information: Lowes Mount Truffles