A round a freshly dug hole at Beltana Farm, the knobbly black truffle is passed from hand to hand. Only moments earlier, it was hidden beneath the roots of an oak tree. Now, it’s the centre of everyone’s attention.
From June to August, frost settles over the paddocks outside Canberra, and dogs weave through neat rows of oak and hazelnut trees in search of one of the world’s most prized ingredients.
The black winter truffle, Tuber melanosporum, is usually associated with France and Italy. Yet Australia’s cool winters have proved ideal for growing it. Since the country’s first truffle host trees were planted in the mid-1990s, Australia has become the world’s fourth largest producer of black truffles, with the Canberra region leading the way. The season is short, which is exactly why people travel for it.
At Beltana Farm, guests gather in jackets and gumboots while the truffle dogs wait impatiently for the day’s hunt to begin.
Most are English Springer Spaniels, Border Collies or Lagotto Romagnolos, the Italian breed long associated with truffle hunting. Once released, they move quickly between the trees, noses close to the ground.
The dogs know exactly what they’re looking for. The visitors usually don’t.
According to Alice O’Mara, co-owner of Beltana Farm, people come in thinking they don’t like truffle because “they’ve only had truffle oil at restaurants”. “Then they smell the real thing and realise it’s nothing like what they expected.”
A dog suddenly stops. The handler kneels and gently brushes away the soil until a small black truffle appears. For something that fits in the palm of a hand, it creates an astonishing amount of excitement. Cameras come out. People crouch for a closer look.
For many, it’s their first time seeing a truffle outside a restaurant kitchen. Unlike other mushrooms, truffles spend their entire lives underground, growing around the roots of oak and hazelnut trees. There are no visible signs above the surface, which is why trained dogs are indispensable. Without them, you’d walk straight past.
Beltana isn’t the only place offering the experience.
In nearby Majura Valley, The Truffle Farm has become one of the region’s best-known destinations. Guided hunts take visitors through orchards of oak trees before ending with meals built around the morning’s harvest. Further north, Blue Frog Truffle Farm has been harvesting black Périgord truffles since 2007. People don’t come just to eat truffles anymore. They want to watch the dogs work, dig one out of the ground themselves, and understand why these underground fungi command such extraordinary prices. It’s part of a wider appetite for knowing where food comes from and meeting the people who produce it.
Back at Beltana, the hunt is only half the experience. Guests can stay on for tasting sessions, long lunches, or twilight barbecues, while others spend the night in luxury yurts overlooking the countryside.
Canberra embraces the season well beyond the farms.
“If you want to see how seriously Canberra takes truffles, book a table somewhere tonight,” the receptionist at Hyatt Hotel Canberra says. And she isn’t exaggerating.
Restaurants across the city build winter menus around the harvest. At RAKU, local truffles find their way into Japanese dishes. Mount Majura Vineyard pairs regional wines with truffle-infused cheeses, while Capitol Bar & Grill partners with The Truffle Farm on an experience that begins in the orchard before ending with a multi-course dinner back in the city.
Winter isn’t the obvious time to visit Canberra, but it’s when the city feels most distinctive. By August, it’s over almost as quickly as it began. The truffles remain hidden beneath the soil until another winter arrives.