Truffle dream comes true

By Matt Romania

A trip 15 years ago planted a seed of ambition for Kelly Kalon and her partner, who both fell in love with truffles during a farm tour in Tasmania.

“We were given information about a truffle farm you could visit, we went on a tour, and fell in love with truffles. The dream of growing our own was set,” Ms Kalon said.

“There has been so much learning along the way about truffle growing and farm management. This is our first season harvesting. We have had lots of support from other experienced local truffle growers and through the Australian Truffle Industry Association.”

The dream (and hard work) has now been realised, as Mineral Springs Truffles has harvested their first season of truffles in Spargo Creek.

Commitment to supporting Victorian products is commendable, sourcing honey from Maldon, salt from the Great Ocean Road, and oil from the Grampians. “

We source as much as we can locally from Victoria,” Ms Kalon said.

A common misconception Ms Kalon encounters is that truffle is an ingredient solely for the gourmet cook or the premium restaurant.

“People seem to shy away from cooking with truffle as they think it requires a gourmet cook to create a great dish.”

The beauty of truffles is they work well for very simple dishes, suggesting pasta with shaved truffle, oil, parmesan cheese, and salt as a good introductory recipe.

“The truffle is the star ingredient of any dish, and it works well with pastas, risotto, cheeses, buttery dishes or even shaved on top of your favourite steak, mashed potato, or cheesy pizza. I have truffle honey in my porridge, with my cheese boards, truffle pasta, truffle butter and I use truffle salt on everything.”

With her truffle dreams coming true, Moorabool can expect to see Ms Kalon and her Mineral Springs Truffles pop up around the area, already being stocked at Hank & Heidi’s in Ballan.

Truffles are not new to Moorabool with two established businesses producing the ‘black gold’ for a number of years; Truffle Treasures just off Sultana Rd at Blakeville and Oakhill Truffles in Gordon.