10 Things You Need to Know About Truffles

Winter is here and although that usually means soups and stews, it also marks the beginning of the extremely important truffle season!

We caught up with Madame Truffles, who will reopen her winter truffle shop in Melbourne this year as well as her first truffle shop in Sydney, to find out what you need to know about these delicious tasting mushrooms.

RELATED: Australia's largest truffle found in NSW

10 Things You Need to Know About Truffles

1. Australia is now the 4th biggest truffle producer in the world.

1. Aussie truffles are served to fine diners in Michelin restaurants around the world, including in Paris.

1. WA produces 85% of Australian truffles and is one of the largest producing regions in the world.

1. Truffle oil is fake. It’s a synthetic compound that doesn’t use real truffle.

1. Pigs used to be the animals used to hunt for truffles. However, the pigs also liked to eat the truffles - could you imagine trying to wrestle a pig for a truffle? Today dogs, mainly Labradors, are used to sniff them out.

RECIPE: Roasted rib of prime Angus beef with young steamed vegetables, truffle and potato gratin and classic Bearnaise sauce

1. Truffle from different trufferies (truffle farms) across Australia, smells and tastes different.

1. Some trees produce truffle within the first two or three years of being inoculated and planted, but most take between seven and 10 years.

1. Some farmers plant hazel trees so if the truffle doesn’t grow, they can sell hazel nuts instead.

1. The production of truffle is based on a complex world that exists underground (plus healthy tree branches that take in sunlight and turn it into sugar). It needs healthy soil, happy trees, and even more importantly a root system that functions well.

1. Even bugs and worms are important for truffles as they can help build pathways under the soil. It’s a whole new world under there! The more humans interfere with the trees and the soil, the more problematic in can be for truffle to grow, so truffle farming requires thought and consideration, the right pruning and knowing when to leave things be.

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