Larousse Gastronomique, the chef and food snob’s bible, defines the truffle as a subterranean fungus that lives in symbiosis with certain trees, most particularly the oak. This hardly begins to describe the prized little ’shroom. I’d define it as a culinary marvel that lives in symbiosis with the palates of certain humans, most particularly mine.

There are, as you know, certain foodstuffs that cause gastronomes to gush. As a fairly fanatical pig, I’ve tried a few: foie gras, Sevruga caviar and Bird’s Nest were all okay but I wouldn’t skip the rent to try ’em again. And you’d have to pay me to give Ambergris another go. However, truffles are a different beast. I’d sell my grandmother to taste a Tuber melanosporum.

Truffles are so highly prized because they are impossible to cultivate on a large commercial scale. There are 70 varieties of truffles found around the world, with 30-odd varieties flourishing in Europe alone. The magnum opus of truffles, and the variety about which this little truffle piggy dreams, is the Tuber melanosporum. It is also known also as the truffe noir d’hiver or ‘black diamond’.

The most renowned region for truffles is Lot, near Toulouse in the southwest of France. The man with the goods is Pierre-Jean Pebeyre, and his business, Pebeyre Truffles, is to truffles as De Beers is to diamonds. His family has traded high-quality truffles for four generations. By all means, drop him an email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Be warned, however: you’ll need to stand in line behind his client list of the world’s best chefs for a gander.

Here in Australia, truffles have been successfully harvested in Tasmania and Victoria by Perigord Truffles, whose black truffle inoculated plants were established in truffières, or truffle plantations, in 1993. In 2005, the first truffle was found in the Yarra Valley by a dog called Pickles.

You’ve heard about them, maybe you’ve even seen them – but have you tasted them? S.M. King investigates the truffle.

Dogs are more commonly used than pigs to find truffles these days. Dogs need to be extraordinarily well trained. They’ll find the truffles alright, but a good pig has a nose like a Parisian perfumier, hunting down the fungus at the peak of its maturity. Fido can be a bit rash.

Should you commence your own truffle hunt, take a tip from these regal swine and use your snout. Something called ‘truffle’ often appears on menus drowned in mushroom risotto. Avoid it. Mushrooms make it impossible to savour the fungus’ subtle tang. Those new to truffles will be overwhelmed by the robust earthiness of mushroom. Those accustomed to truffles will be disappointed by the brutality of the dish. It’s impossible to detect the delicacy. If, indeed, the unscrupulous restaurateur has included the ingredient at all.

More than once I have been lied to about truffle. So, if you’re considering popping your truffle cherry, take care. Visit an establishment where they’ll use the real thing, rather than truffle-infused oil. The risotto aux truffes at Vue du Monde doesn’t muddle the flavour of truffles with mushrooms, and is a very good place to start.

It’ll come at a price. But, oh, it is a price worth paying.

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