Winter in the west means one thing on the menus, and only for a short season: black truffle. Grown barely three hours south in Manjimup and the surrounding districts, including Margaret River, the State has built one of the country’s most respected truffle industries. What sets the State apart is how widely the ingredient travels once it is dug. High end dining rooms build menus around it for one off dinners and special dishes but so do pie shops and banh mi counters treating a luxury ingredient with none of the usual reverence. That range, from formal to footpath, is what makes the season worth tracking. WA chefs have met it with real invention this year, and the results are worth seeking out before the ground gives up its last truffle for the season. Here is where to find it.
Crown Perth
Nobu
Truffle runs through the menu here. A new style salmon and white fish maki is finished with truffle, a Glacier 51 toothfish arrives with truffle kataifi and shiso salsa, grilled 2GR wagyu MB9+ is lifted with a honey truffle teriyaki, and Fremantle smoked octopus is paired with truffle potato cream, edamame puree and aji romesco.
Modo Mio
A carnaroli risotto finished with stracciatella, crisp guanciale and black truffle is the standout, followed by a slow cooked egg with chargrilled asparagus and truffle pecorino. For dessert, a mascarpone mousse with black truffle and hazelnut nougatine closes the meal with polish.
Silks
Truffle threads through the Cantonese menu: deep fried king prawn in truffle sauce, steamed prawn and pork dumplings in a truffle egg drop soup, and deep fried chicken in truffle sauce topped with truffle slices. The truffle fried rice remains the reason to book.
Saigon Story
A black truffle banh mi layers crackling pork with cucumber, pickled carrot and daikon, pate and spring onion, bound with butter mayo and truffle infused mayo, and finished with shaved WA black truffle.
Gibney, Cottesloe
A half shell scallop arrives with fresh Manjimup truffle, garlic kombu butter and parsley crumb, one of several truffle additions to the menu this season. Also worth ordering: a Mount Barker chicken roulade with morel forestiere and tarragon, topped with shaved Manjimup truffle, and a truffle verte chaud, Bahen and Co single origin hot chocolate with green chartreuse, coconut cream and fresh shaved Manjimup truffle.
Lulu La Delizia
Black Perigord truffle is available as an add on to the potato gnocchetti with porcini crema and parmigiano. A new tagliolini with garlic butter and parmigiano features Bianchetto truffle from Gavin at Australian Truffle Traders.
Leeuwin Estate
Chef Dan Gedge and the team at Leeuwin Estate, WA’s reigning Regional Restaurant of the Year, work truffle through a scallop mousse sandwiched between scallop slices, celeriac and kombu, and through a cavatelli with Jerusalem artichoke and white asparagus.
Angelwood Pies
Keep an eye on Angelwood’s Instagram for an upcoming weekend special: a beef bourguignon pie with a truffled potato top.
Vasse Felix
Chef Cam Jones is running a beef fillet glazed in Madeira jus, paired with white chocolate and parsnip puree, brioche toast, duck liver pate, honey and soy preserved maitake mushrooms, a parsnip crisp and shaved Manjimup truffle.
Three Coins
Chef Francesco Trequattrini has sourced truffle from Alan at Splendid Valley Truffles for almost ten years, and the relationship shows in the quality he gets each season. He is currently rotating two carnaroli risottos: one with roasted pumpkin veloute, black garlic jus and freshly shaved truffle, the other with a blue Stilton and Gorgonzola fondue, walnut pesto and freshly shaved truffle.
Edward and Ida’s
A pastrami beef rib comes with smoked gravy and truffled mash, a cold weather dish built for the season.
Foxtrot Unicorn
The contribution here is simpler and no less satisfying: a fresh black truffle and ten cheese jaffle.