Truffle Hill

Six years is a long time to wait for a first crop. Truffle Hill was established at Manjimup in 1997, when its founders planted hazelnut and oak trees inoculated with black Périgord truffle, Tuber melanosporum. They had chosen Manjimup for its cool climate and its soils. The first truffle did not come out of the ground until 2003.

Truffle Hill describes itself as Australia's first black truffle farm. The planting has grown into an estate of 52 hectares among the karri forests of the Southern Forests region, with more than 55 kilometres of hazel and oak rows, and orchards alongside. A truffle gives no sign above ground, so the estate finds them with specially trained dogs, and only during the winter harvest.

That short season is the problem the pantry range sets out to solve. A fresh truffle belongs to a few cold months. A jar does not. The company's ambassador is the French-born chef Alain Fabrègues. He was awarded the title Meilleur Ouvrier de France in 1991, and was later made a Chevalier du Mérite Agricole and a Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite by the French Republic. He founded the Mundaring Truffle Festival in 2006. For Truffle Hill he developed a way of preserving black truffle in a can. The company says the method uses natural ingredients and no artificial flavours, and aims to keep the truffle's aroma and flavour beyond the harvest window.

The condiments follow the same idea of carrying the estate's truffle through the year: truffle oil, truffle-infused honey, truffle mustard, truffle salt and a truffle risotto base. Alongside them the company sells a wider pantry range under the label Ogilvie & Co, which includes honeys, mustards, relishes, pasta sauces and shortbread.

There is a tasting room at the Manjimup estate, and the company also runs a Truffle Boutique in Claremont, Perth. Check the maker's site before visiting.