Lou Perri - Palate Pleasures

Palate

with LOU PERRI

FROM THE STUNNED MULLET

The aroma always comes first... distinctive, pungent and perfumed.

If you’ve experienced it once, you’ll never mistake it again. Elusive, mysterious, exotic and decadent. Powerful, yet subtle. Earthy, nutty and enigmatic to taste, albeit surprisingly underwhelming to the eye… Have you guessed which particular palate pleasure is being described here? That’s right, it’s the humble sounding Tuber Melanosporum, aka the Black Winter Truffle. Basically considered to be a form of mushroom, although these babies grow under, rather than above ground, truffles are a rare delicacy, only available for fleeting periods and sometimes not at all. Harvests are never guaranteed and farmers need to have a next level amount of patience to prepare to wait at least 4 years for yields to deliver, and in only very specific conditions. This is because the spores need to attach themselves to tree roots, and mostly to well established oak and hazelnut trees, that need to be a particular distance away from each other in order for the truffle to flourish. (However they may happily grow in the wild occasionally, due to reproduction via animal droppings). Good luck harvesting them though, due to their elusiveness and natural camouflage (their appearance is often likened to clumps of soil, or some say poo!). Only specially trained and highly skilled truffle hunting pigs and dogs can locate these hidden gems with any precision, and once they’re harvested – it’s a race

Like all very special things, against time to ensure they are consumed within the most optimal they come to an end window of freshness so very quickly – but to allow their amazing of course the laws of aroma and mysterious supply and demand powers to be at their apply in that if we most intoxicating. had them all the Fresh truffles are among time they wouldn’t the most glorious of be... well, special! culinary experiences. Shaved delicately upon mashed potato, scrambled eggs, creamy pasta or risotto, they find their perfect pairing. Rich, yet bland foods make a wonderful marriage with truffle, where the incredible aroma and subtle, yet earthy flavours are ever more enhanced. And of course, there’s nothing more decadently delicious than butter infused with fresh truffle, and we always like to get busy with creating a truffle infused salt too. So special and we’re very lucky to be able to enjoy excellent quality truffles right here in Australia – the most well know region is Manjimup in the far south of WA, and also VIC and ACT. Happily and luckily for us this year we’ve been able to offer some for you to enjoy at the restaurant over the last few weeks. Like all very special things, they come to an end so very quickly – but of course the laws of supply and demand apply in that if we had them all the time they wouldn’t be... well, special! Truffles are a shining example of the enormous seasonal variety of produce we are so very fortunate to be able to choose from within our marketplace. Luxury culinary items such as these, we may be able to only fleetingly experience – however there are many and varied more accessible foods to choose from. There’s no simpler equation to follow when choosing ingredients – fresh and seasonal equals delicious and versatile. To bring an otherwise ordinary dish to the next level, you can certainly shave some amazing truffle over it but for the majority of the time you may only need to squeeze some perfectly fresh lemon, or sprinkle some freshly picked, fragrant herbs… right now however, I’m shaving those truffles until they’re gone till next time.