The Tassie Treasures
We visit The Truffle Farm in Tasmania, the home of Australia’s first black truffle, to understand what is the kerfuffle about truffles!
Back in 1999 on a cold winter’s afternoon Tim Terry, harvested Australia’s first black truffle from the rich soil of his Deloraine farm. Over the subsequent years, Tim and his family have built Tasmanian Truffles into one of Australia’s premium producers of the highly sought-after black truffle. Tim’s children, Anna and Henry, have now taken the reins and run the daily operations of the truffle farm.
The Terry family’s farm is situated in Deloraine at the foot of Tasmania’s Great Western Tiers, an area known for its cool climate, pure air and water and fertile soil. These conditions are perfect growing conditions for black truffles. Deloraine is about a 50kms drive west from Launceston and a similar distance south of Devonport.
Anna and Henry’s faces may look familiar. Back in 2018, Anna and Henry hit the big screen on the channel seven cooking show, My Kitchen Rules. Their down to earth attitudes and general all-round niceness made them very popular contestants but what Australia did not realise was these young siblings ran a very successful truffle farm in Tassie, producing some of the best black truffles available on the market.
Black truffles are highly prized by foodies all over the world. These subterranean fungi are highly aromatic with a musty, intense mushroom smell overlaid with what some call ‘forest floor’. They provide that elusive umami taste, that ‘essence of deliciousness’ and when added to a dish can raise it from ordinary to extraordinary.
The Terry’s truffles are nurtured and grown slowly and carefully in optimum conditions. They lie in the cool, fertile earth, nestled among the roots of their oak orchards, until they develop their full flavour and aroma, and are ready for harvest.
The Terrys exclusively use oak trees, as oaks are productive for hundreds of years under the right conditions. Oak trees are also more suited to growing truffles in the Tasmanian climate and have lower maintenance costs than hazelnut trees.
This is when we meet the real star of the show, Doug, the family’s three year old, highly trained truffle dog. Doug’s finely tuned senses knows just the right time to unearth the truffles. Doug will give a couple of scratches at the truffle site when he knows they are ready for unearthing. He is then given a treat to stop him digging. The truffle is gently lifted from the soil by hand. The Terrys take extreme care when handling each truffle “each truffle is harvested with the same care and devotion that we apply to every one of our premium truffle products.”
They Terrys suggest adding truffles to any dish at the end of the cooking process will unlock the unique black truffle aroma and flavour. Dried truffle makes an excellent addition to sauces, pastas, risottos, and egg dishes. Their deep, earthy truffle flavour is the perfect addition to salt, oil and honey and Tasmanian Truffles have a beautiful selection of products for sale both online and at the farm. Other delicious treats include truffle mustards, truffle balsamic and truffle crème.
They also offer tours to the public where you can learn about the history of truffles, hear the story of how they were first grown on the Terry truffle farm and then dig some up for yourself. There is also an option to stay for a truffle tasting and a farm style platter taking advantage of the truffles, Tasmanian local produce and wines. Sounds to us like the perfect way to spend a day, meet the Terrys, hunt for truffles with delicious food and wine to top it off!
Visit The Truffle Farm
844 Mole Creek Rd, Deloraine, TAS 7304 thetrufflefarmtasmania.com.au tastruffles.com.au @the_truffle_farm @tasmanian_truffles
Tuffle farmers, siblings Anna and Henry Terry with
Doug.
The Tasmanian truffle infused olive oil.
The highly prized Tasmanian black truffle.
Doug lightly scratches the soil surface to indicate he’s found a black truffle ready for harvest
The delicious Tasmanian truffle honey.
The real star of the show is Doug the truffle dog! His finely honed sense of smell knows exactly the right time to harvest the black truffles.