Truffle Hunt at Tarago & Truffle Lunch at Dieci e Mezzo

Truffle Hunt at Tarago 
& Truffle Lunch at Dieci e Mezzo

Denzil Sturgiss at his truffiere, Tarago Truffles at Gap Hill

'Find the truffle', Denzil Sturgiss says to his trusty cocker spaniel, Tom. We walk a short while and moments later Tom scratches the earth beneath an oak tree and Denzil is down on the ground sniffing the soil, before carefully extracting a good-sized black truffle.

We're visiting Tarago Truffles as part of the Canberra and Capital Region Truffle Festival. Peter and I haven't been to a truffiere and are both looking forward to experiencing a truffle hunt. Our noses and fingers are soon put to the test, as Denzil teaches us to sniff the earth in search of that interesting truffle aroma and shows us how to gently dig around the lumpy mass that will reveal a precious French black truffle or 'black diamond' (Tuber melanosporum).

Denzil's dog, Tom, may be old, but he has a keen sense of smell

We walk a short while and moments later Tom is sniffing the ground under an oak tree

A good sized black truffle, fresh from the earth

Denzil and Anne Sturgiss, and their son, Matthew, run Tarago Truffles at Gap Hill. Denzil is a down to earth kind of fellow, no pun intended. 'I was born just over the hill at Ataweenah, my father's property on Mayfield Road, Tarago', he tells us. 'I've owned and managed rural properties throughout my life. A while back, I managed 8,000 acres at Wood Lawn at the mine, with 10,000 dry sheep equivalent. There were 600 deer and 400 head of cattle'.

Denzil and Anne bought Gap Hill in 1992 and have established a successful truffiere, with a mixture of 4,500 oak and hazelnut trees planted on three hectares. 'We only have a handful of cattle and sheep now,' Denzil says. 'You don't have to drench truffles and they don't get out of the fence,' he adds with a smile. 

The Sturgiss family is one of 150 Australian truffle growers. Relatively new to Australia, truffles are grown in every State and Territory, except the Northern Territory. The season runs from May through to August and truffles are harvested using specially trained dogs. According the organisers of the Canberra and Capital Region Truffle Festival, there are 30 growers in the region and many young trees are yet to produce. This will eventually see Canberra as a major truffle centre and food tourism destination in winter.

For the uninitiated, truffles grow underground from truffle 'mycorrhiza' that is applied to the roots of hazelnut and oak trees. Truffles are sold by weight in grams, and variations in grading affect the price. As an example, a 20g truffle is around the size of a squash ball and may cost $60.00 or more. If you are wondering why truffles are so expensive, it takes some time for them to appear, sometimes four or five years, perhaps longer. The truffles are harvested by hand and the trees need to be checked for truffles twice a week. It is labour intensive work and harvesters spend a lot of time down on their hands and knees with their nose to the ground.

On our truffle hunt, we quickly learn that Denzil's dog, Tom, may be old, but he has a keen sense of smell and is a cleverly trained truffle sniffer. If the truffle isn't ready, he won't touch it, Denzil explains. The perfume stays in the ground after the truffle has been harvested. Therefore, sometimes when Tom scratches the ground, there may not be a truffle, just the scent of one that was there. Denzil also explains that just because you find a truffle, you don't necessarily pull it up, as it may not be ready. 'Some years ago, we identified a truffle. Ten weeks later, we harvested it. It was a beautiful truffle!,' Denzil recalls. We learn that when you harvest truffles, you need to check carefully, as there could be another truffle underneath or close by. 

After the truffle hunt, Anne Sturgiss was on hand with a mug of delicious, hot cauliflower soup served with grated cheese and shavings of fresh truffle. Anne says her favourite recipe with truffles is scrambled eggs, and advises that truffles should be stored in a glass jar lined with kitchen towelling and kept in the refrigerator. Once a day, take the lid off the jar and allow the truffle to breathe for a few minutes, Anne says. Fresh is best, so use your truffle within one to three weeks of purchase. To shave a truffle, use a truffle shaver, or a sharp vegetable peeler.

Matthew Sturgiss says you can tell a good truffle firstly by the aroma, then the colour and the skin. A good truffle is firm and has a good earthy aroma that is strong. 'There is nothing else like the aroma of a fresh truffle', Matthew says. I think he's right!

For more information and FAQs on truffles, click here. There are some lovely truffle recipes here. The Canberra and Capital Region Truffle Festival continues until 31 July. There are truffle hunts, truffle cooking classes, truffles at the markets across Canberra, and truffle degustations and special truffle dinners at various restaurants in the ACT. Scroll down to read about our lunch at Dieci e Mezzo. For a full program of events, visit the web site. 

Denzil Sturgiss from Tarago Truffles and his trained truffle sniffing dog, Tom

Denzil sniffs the ground to ascertain that there is a truffle and the truffle is ready to be harvested

Watch Gordon Hammond's Doggy Cam and see Tom at work seeking out the best truffles. Video appears courtesy of and with kind thanks Sally and Gordon Hammond.

Then it's my turn and I carefully dig out this beauty!

Good boy, Tom!

Tom takes a breather while Peter prises a truffle from the earth

Denzil places a ribbon on the tree, indicating that a truffle has been found

To unearth a truffle, gently dig around the lumpy mass that will reveal a precious Tuber melanosporum

The prize 'black diamond' that Peter dug out

Denzil Sturgiss is a down to earth fellow, no pun intended

Anne Sturgiss with a freshly harvested truffle. Dog handler and harvester, Dalene Devonshire, is in the background

More postcards and morsels from the day...

Truffle lunch at Dieci e Mezzo with Chef Adam Bantock

After the truffle hunt at Tarago Truffles, we travelled by bus back to Dieci e Mezzo in Canberra city, where head chef, Adam Bantock, prepared a special three course truffle menu based that was matched with wines from the Canberra region. Dieci e Mezzo is a modern Italian restaurant owned by Fiona Wright and Jeremy Paul, who lured Bantock back from Shanghai, where he was cooking at M on the Bund. Bantock's focus is on fresh produce, sourced locally where possible. He explained that the truffles we had enjoyed came from Braidwood, the organic chicken from the Southern Highlands and the honey from Murrumbateman. He and the owners are so passionate about this food provenance, that they have listed suppliers on the restaurant's web site. Our lunch was fresh, flavoursome, and featured exquisitely fresh truffles in all three courses, as well as the macarons that followed! Interesting.

Adam Bantock, head chef at Dieci e Mezzo created a beautiful truffle menu

To Start
Fresh bread with truffle butter

Entree
Soft white polenta, slow cooked organic Mulloon Creek egg, pecorino, rye crumbs and fresh truffle
NV Gallagher Cuvee National Gallery of Australia Sparkling

Main Course
Roast stuffed corn-fed chicken, celeriac puree, potato and herb saute, porcini soil
2009 Eden Road BDX Merlor Malbec Petit Verdot

Dessert
Truffle pannacotta, burnt honey sponge, spice icecream
2010 Lerida Estate Botrytis Pinot Gris

Truffle macarons with tea and coffee

Peter and I would like to extend our sincere thanks to the organisers of the Canberra and Capital Region Truffle Festival, Tarago Truffles, Dieci e Mezzo and the team at threesides for kindly hosting our truffle adventure.

And for more truffle adventures, head over to A Food Story, Food and Travel (that's me in the vid), and The Food Pornographer.