Everyone remembers their very first truffle experience. Perhaps you once tasted the prized ingredient folded through silken clouds of scrambled eggs at a bougie café. Or maybe your creamy mushroom risotto was drizzled with truffle-infused olive oil. Black speckles of the stuff can be found amongst the granules of some of the finest artisanal salt blends, while fine diners will often thinly shave truffle and layer atop a dish, carpaccio-style.
In other words, food lovers around the world can't get enough of the stuff. But whatever memories you may hold of your baptism into umami town with truffles, there's no denying it: these funky, fungal fruiting bodies take flavour to the next level.
So, where do they even come from? How are they found? Why do some people devote their entire lives to looking for them, researching them and writing about them? And in what sorts of ways can they be prepared and enjoyed best?
Chef Liam Downes is one of the state's foremost experts in these matters, and his Wattle Flat venue Black Cat Truffles (only a 15-minute drive from Ballarat) is the place to pick his brains. The 20-acre farm operates as a restaurant and truffle farm, playing host to many exciting events across the year such as guided truffle hunts, picnics, wine-paired degustation lunches and more. On weekends, you can book to arrange a lunch or dinner visit here.
People even get married at Black Cat Truffles, with beautiful canapé garden and marquee spaces providing the perfect settings for all kinds of special occasions. And during the springtime, you can book brunch in the truffle orchard with bottomless Mimosas. What a way to spend an afternoon!
To see what's on in the coming months, visit the venue's Instagram or website. If you can't make it down to Wattle Flat but you'd like to taste some of Downes's expertly crafted truffle products, you can make a purchase from the high-quality range online.