![]() ![]() It requires many years of toil, and much like any agricultural pursuit, the risk is high, especially with a changing and therefore unpredictable climate. The changing face of farmingĪs interest grows in truffle harvesting as a way to make money, the Australia Truffle Growers Association (ATGA) website states it gets requests from people who want to grow truffles in "tubs, greenhouses, under oak trees in the street and in tropical climates".īut prospective truffieres be warned, despite the market price tag, truffle farming is not a way to get rich quickly. "There have been a lot of studies on it recently from Italy and France, people are getting super interested in truffles," Ms Moroney said. It's a complex, if not slightly competitive relationship. "The truffle gives the tree nutrients, such as phosphorus and nitrogen and the tree gives the truffle carbon and carbohydrates," she said. The relationship between the inoculated tree and the truffle is symbiotic, and complicated. "When the truffle wants to reproduce, and we don't know exactly how they do it, it creates this fruiting body called the truffle," Ms Moroney said. It grows into the ground, creating vast networks. "The Tuber melanosporum coats every root of the host tree like a glove, it's called a mantle. Like a mushroom, truffles are the fruiting body of fungus, only they are found underground. "It's not like you can go outside and say, 'Oh, the wheat looks good or the apples are ready'. ![]() "The most fascinating thing about growing truffles, which is also the most frustrating thing, is that you can't see your crop," she said. Ms Moroney, a medical practitioner by trade, studied medicine before going on to study veterinary science, with a placement at Taronga Zoo. The Moroneys, as relatively new owners of a truffiere, understand that ultimately no matter what they do to encourage truffles, there are no guarantees in this stinky business. ![]() "But we've been able to pivot that, and we've been able to sell that now to a lot of the home cooks that are in lockdown and still want to have that delicacy," he said.įor the past few weeks, they've been boxing up 30 to 40 boxes of individual truffles at 20 to 30 grams and $3,000 a kilo, the gourmet treat can set you back a pretty penny or two. "As soon as lockdown impacted, our market got hit dramatically, both with our hunts, which we had to cancel, as well as with our product sales. "We were selling most of our product to Sydney with a large number of products going to a couple of customers buying 2 to 3 kilograms each week," Mr Moroney said. Robertson Truffles was established 15 years ago, making it one of the first truffle-producing farms in Australia.Īt this truffiere, the harvest is black Perigord truffles, otherwise known as Australian black truffles, and summer truffles, which surfaced for the first time last summer. "The main thing is to make sure that the soil is at the right pH level and that the irrigation is fine, and keeping the wombats and wildlife out," Mr Moroney said. Over the next few months, the truffiere team will undertake soil sampling, check irrigation lines, and keep the grass trimmed and fauna free. "I'll start doing some pruning of the trees … and with 317 trees, that's a lot of pruning that takes place." "This will be our last walk through with the dogs this year," Mr Moroney said. Gourmet home cooks popped up across the state flourishing truffle dishes from their own kitchens, but what is a truffle and how do you find them?įor truffieres Patrick and Tanya Moroney, truffle season in the Southern Highlands township of Robertson is over. What do you like best about truffles? The aroma, the texture, the taste, or the hunt?īlack Perigord truffles are more mysterious than we ever imagined and whether it's the aroma, the texture, the taste or the hunt, fossicking for truffles this season has been, like every other season, very much like hunting for buried gold.Īs restaurants closed due to COVID restrictions, a truffiere in the New South Wales Southern Highlands diversified, appealing to its email listings to keep it afloat, and it worked.Īustralians have embraced truffles during winter lockdown, expressing their taste for the black nugget by purchasing directly from the truffiere. ![]()
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