Truffle Melbourne 2019: the tastiest game of hide and seek begins

Melbourne foodies can’t get enough of this luxurious and slightly mysterious ingredient. Here’s where you can taste it.

Yu Kitchen’s Truffle Melbourne event sold fast.

When he kicked off his very first truffle festival Nigel Wood spent most of his time explaining that he was promoting a fungus not chocolate.

Six years on and Truffle Melbourne is the biggest truffle celebration outside of Europe with 40,000 people attending in 2018.

“In 2019, consumers are astute, aware and eager to taste truffles on everything

from my personal favourite, scrambled eggs, to risotto, pastas, toasted cheese and

more unique pairings with seafood, chocolate and even ice cream,” Mr Wood said.

“Festival-goers want more and different truffle experiences, and are keen to try

new truffle tastes, so we’re working with the best Australian, Spanish, Italian,

French and U.S. truffle growers and producers to bring a wider world of truffle to

town.”

He acknowledged that the winter delicacy wasn’t a cheap date with its $2500 per kilo price tag deterring some foodies.

Black truffle

“I explain to people that it’s better to think of truffles by the gram,” Mr Wood said.

“Good truffle retails for about $2.50 a gram. Two grams per person per dish is about right so $80 worth of truffle is the right amount for a decadent dinner party for six guests with enough left over to shave over scrambled eggs the next morning.”

If you prefer to let someone else do the cooking there are plenty of lunches and dinners on offer as part of the Truffle Melbourne program.

But tickets to the more popular soirees can be as elusive as the truffles themselves with some already booked out.

The first Yu Kitchen Truffle Discovery and Wine Pairing Degustation Dinner at Chadstone sold out so fast a second was arranged for June 11.

That event features six courses and matched wines and tickets are available here.

Executive Chef Bernard Kong has incorporated truffles into his signature blend of traditional and homemade Chinese cuisine.

Yu Kitchen’s Hokkaido scallop wrapped in Yunnan ham, truffle and pumpkin velouté.

The menu includes baby green lip abalone salad with fresh shaved truffle, truffled Mayura Wagyu beef Xiao Long Bao (steamed bun); Hokkaido scallop wrapped in Yunnan ham, truffle and pumpkin velouté; crispy Berkshire pork belly with truffled pear foam and spiced carrot puree and drunken free-range chicken roulade, with velvet truffled egg and asparagus fried rice.

For dessert he has created a soybean panna cotta, truffle honey, freeze-dried blood peach snow.

There are still seats left for the official season launch dinner at The Stokehouse on June 13.

Head chef Ollie Hansford and Senior Sous Chef Mark Wong’s menu includes Robbins Island 9+ wagyu with burnt Brussels and wattleseeds topped with fresh truffle — shaved at the table.

If takeaway is more your speed check out the Truffle Truck at Queen Victoria Market.

It’s a new addition to Truffle Melbourne and will be serving truffle-infused dishes such as

Black angus truffle burgers with red onion and aged cheddar, truffle fries, gnocchi with truffled mushrooms and creamy truffle and cauliflower soup on market days throughout the season.

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The market is the official home of Truffle Melbourne and will also be hosting a Pop Up selling truffle products throughout the festival and a two day extravaganza on June 22 and 23.

There will be mock truffle hunts, cooking demonstrations and sessions with truffle growers.

If you want to experience a real truffle hunt there are now six working truffieres throughout the Daylesford/Macedon, Gippsland, the Otways and Mornington Peninsula hosting guests through the season.

Most hunts offer the chance to watch an expert truffle hound sniff out some of the black gold.

Each hunt will vary, with some featuring truffle cooking classes and tastings and others offering a fine dining experience post-hunt.

Mr Wood, who has a truffiere in Grantville (Truffle Paddock), said the harvest of truffles in Victoria was also “growing exponentially and beyond all expectations”.

“One truffiere alone in Victoria harvested 240 kilos of truffle (in 2018) taking up the

state’s total harvest to one tonne of truffle.

“Growing and harvesting truffles is always challenging but last year Mother Nature co-operated and truffle dogs were extra-busy sniffing out ripe truffle.”

Find out more about Truffle Melbourne here.