Lovely Valley Truffles

Above: Truffle farmer Greg Hughes with some of his freshly unearthed ‘bounty’.

Striking black gold

Story by Samantha Marchetti. Photography by Ben Macmahon.

What do you do when you have a spare paddock, smack bang in the middle of Myponga’s cattle and sheep country, that’s only ever been grazed by kangaroos? This was the question bouncing between Jayne Jacques and Greg Hughes ten years ago when a friend suggested they try to grow truffles. ‘Truffles? We didn’t know what truffles were!’ laughs Jayne.

As their truffle research began, Greg and Jayne found themselves at a meeting in Mt Compass where locals were keen to learn how to grow truffles. ‘There’s a fair bit of secrecy amongst the truffle growers worldwide,’ laments Greg. ‘We are mostly self-taught in every aspect of growing and collecting truffles and even after a decade are still learning all the time.’

Greg and Jayne started out truffle growing as a hobby, albeit one that required a level of commitment. They hand-planted their first fifty trees at Lovely Valley Truffles in 2012, a mixture of English oak, French oak and hazelnut trees, their roots inoculated with French black truffle fungi. ‘The first two years of their life I hand-watered the trees with rainwater, ten litres per tree, twice a week over summer,’ recalls Jayne. Allowed to grow naturally, the trees have climbed to a healthy three metres. ‘Truffles like really hot summers and cold winters and Myponga definitely supplies that,’ laughs Greg.

Greg kept researching, patiently waiting for the right time to search for truffles. ‘I heard about Adelaide Hills Truffle Dogs in 2019 and made an appointment for them to come out with their dogs to have a sniff around. I had gone out to meet them carrying a small sandwich bag hoping we may get one or two truffles. After 10 minutes I turned to Jayne and said “I think you had better go and get a bucket”,’ he says. start digging. And at the second tree that’s exactly what happened! It was so exciting! We collected just over two kilos of truffles at that first hunt,’ says Jayne.

‘You couldn’t find two more lovely down-to-earth people than Jayne and Greg,’ comments Dean. ‘Our first search with them was a unique experience with unexplored established trees. We started the hunt with low expectations and ended up with an unbelievable harvest. We were all surprised as on that day we dug up the largest amount of truffles we had ever found in one farm at one time.’

Jayne and Greg didn’t try truffle until bringing their own truffles into their kitchen. ‘Our first taste was with scrambled eggs. We experimented with a toasted cheese truffle sandwich, and it was beautiful. The most expensive toasted sandwich going around but it was delicious,’ says Jayne. The truffles from their first harvest were delicately flavoured, but as the trees have continued to mature, the flavours have become stronger and deeper.

Not long after that first hunt, a family friend told Blewitt Springs chef Amanda Geddes that there were truffles being found on the Fleurieu. ‘I was elated. I’m a flavour taster, whether it be in wine or in food. And truffles offer such a unique flavour that cannot be replicated. It was such a heart-warming moment of being able to find truffles in our own backyard,’ says Amanda. A firm friendship developed between the trio and Amanda shared the news of locally grown truffles with other South Australian chefs. ‘For the first few hunts we found customers were excited but cautious, even skeptical,’ says Jayne. ‘Now the demand for Lovely Valley Truffles is not only growing locally, but also globally as we are receiving pre-orders from overseas.’

As interest in truffles – the black gold of cuisine – from the Fleurieu Peninsula grows, Lovely Valley Truffles will be hosting selected tours this winter in collaboration with Tailor Tours and Adelaide Hills Truffle Dogs. ‘We can’t wait to share our story with others and see the look of joy on people’s faces when they find their first truffle,’ says Greg. ‘Truffle growing isn’t a get-rich-quick venture. It’s all about passion and patience rather than profit. And once you find truffles, you also find you make a lot more friends.’