The truffle kerfuffle: what is the fuss really about?

"Here it is," he says, starting to delicately excavate around what looks like, to me, a clump of dirt.

"It's a good one, about 400 grams I reckon."

That's $800 we've just pulled out of the ground.

I admitted to Haslam, at the start of our conversation about this truffle season, that I thought truffles were wanky and pretentious. Did he dare try to convince me otherwise?

"I would hate to make this a chore for you, Karen," he wrote back, "but I would welcome the challenge to change your view. But you have me at a disadvantage and we would first need to understand the basis of you anti truffle sentiment."

Well I guess it starts with the fact that the thing that we pulled out of the ground is worth more than what some people make in a week.

Otis Dining Hall executive chef Damian Brabender, who moonlights with Funguys Truffle Burgers running out of The Truffle Farm on Mt Majura Road, says truffles have always had a shroud of mystery, "even arrogance", surrounding them.

"They've become a bucket list item instead of a shopping list item which I think is ridiculous," Brabender says. With Jayson Mesman, who owns The Truffle Farm, Brabender is one of a growing breed of chefs, food producers and brewers who are endeavouring to bring truffles to the masses.

"What we're doing with Funguys, it's really about when people come out to the farm and they do the events and have the degustation, they obviously don't want to do that again and again, but they want to taste truffles more and more.

"To get it into a burger for example we infuse some mayonnaise, we infuse some cheese, we make a salt-based truffle seasoning. We put truffles into macaroni and cheese and put that in a jaffle, for example. We load up fries with the truffle-infused mayonnaise.

"We're not trying to cheapen truffles, we're just trying to elevate other dishes and that's the best way to use truffles."

At BentSpoke Brewing Co Richard Watkins has added truffles to a special winter beer.

"Silverback is a dark malty strong ale that sits in the 'hopinator' infusing with kumquats, cinnamon, star anise, nutmeg and truffles," he says.

"The truffles add earthy aromas and sniffs to the beer, bringing out the complexity of the already rich and bold palate. The umami effect associated with the truffle works to bring together the malty beer flavours and the spice characters."

At Frugii Dessert Laboratory John Marshall is making extra batches of his truffle ice cream to keep up with demand.

"People were asking about it two or so months ago," he says. "It's really popular every year we make it.

"The truffles carry well in the cream, it's infused and the fat content holds the flavour well.

"I like to do ice cream flavours that keep things interesting. It's not a gimmick, it has to taste good for me to have it in the shop.

"Black truffle is a savoury flavour, and I think the complexity of taste is amazing. It's not for everyone though."

Which brings us back to the original conundrum. If truffle elevates beer, ice cream and burgers why do I have an aversion to it? Or is it an aversion to the idea of it?

Haslam is a retired engineer who was involved in the initial subdivision of Sutton. He fell in love with his property, with a large, wide dam to the left of the main driveway.

"When I retired out here I thought I have to do something, I thought I'd become a contract grape grower but luckily my grape-growing friends said don't be mad, that's an all-year-round job, I looked at olives but it was early days in the olive industry and no one knew much.

"And then I heard about truffles, I'd never eaten them, I didn't know anything about them, I thought even if it doesn't work I'll have plenty of trees."

In 2003 he planted his first trees: English Oak, Holly Oak and hazelnut trees. Now he has 1800 trees on his four hectares and he's been harvesting truffles since 2007.

Does the kind of tree make a difference to the truffle? My first stupid question of the day.

"I don't think so but some people think they do," he says. "Truffles are a bit like red wine, each one has its own individual character and everyone's got their preferences."

He's full of interesting facts about truffles: remains have been discovered in Stone Age middens; the Greeks thought they were caused by lightning strikes; in the Middle Ages they were banned by the church who thought they were the work of the devil.

"Just think about it, who could explain how they grew, they were black, with no visible link to the tree, they were ripe when everything else was dormant, they were thought to be an aphrodisiac, they were preached against from the pulpit, no wonder the church hated them."

Despite their ancient history, truffles have found a place in modern industry.

A 2018 economic study from Central Queensland University showed that the truffle industry contributed $8 million to the Canberra region alone. Australia is now fourth-ranked in truffle production world wide behind Spain, Italy and France. Most of the Australian production occurs in Western Australia, the largest plantation boasts more than 20,000 trees.

Haslam has been a key player in the Australian industry, instrumental in setting up the peak body, the Australian Truffle Growers Association in 2006.

In 2009 Haslam and Fred Harden from ThinkTag Creative Services dreamt up the idea of a festival with the aim to create a market for local growers, to educate the local chefs and the public about how truffles could be cooked and enjoyed.

This is the 11th year of the festival which runs from June until late August, with hunts, dinners and special events over the course of three months, showcasing what is definitely artisan agriculture.

That's if you could describe a retired engineer digging on his hands and knees on a cold Canberra morning artisan.

"I love it," he says. "I never tire of finding one."

Peri, under the guidance of her owner Prue Church, who travels south from the Northern Rivers area of NSW every season with her three dogs as something of a contract hunter, is on fire. She's got a great strike rate, Church follows her along, marking each point she stops with a pink flag, and Haslam follows with his spoon, poking in the dirt for the reward. Peri gets a little cube of cheese for every hit and today she's eating well.

Haslam takes us back to the Blue Frog tasting room, which kind of doubles as a rumpus room under his house. His wife Lanie - "she complains I married an engineer and ended up married to a bloody truffle farmer," Haslam says - brings out some things for us to sample. There's some truffle infused brie, macadamia nuts, Maltesers of all things. They're interesting. But do I like them?

Perhaps I'm overthinking it. Talking to Brabender later on, perhaps I am.

"I'll make some truffle butter and stir it through two-minute noodles and it's delicious," the chef says.

"Look at it this way, if you're eating wagyu or high-grade tuna you're not going to have a chef messing around with it too much, I think with truffles it's the same thing.

"Even at Otis we want to make it accessible for people. It's winter so why have a deconstructed something or other, why not just have a bowl of amazing cauliflower soup finished with truffle, that's winter in bowl, braised beef cheeks with truffle in the mashed potato instead of trying to make it into a truffle foam or something silly like that."

"People talk about using local produce, about eating seasonally, we've got truffles growing right here, there's nothing more seasonal and regional than Canberra truffles."

But has my own truffle-infused expedition changed my mind? Haslam gets me to smell the truffles he digs up and I'm not sure I like the aroma. I can't think of how to describe it. He later gives me a truffle aroma wheel with words such as ground coffee, leather, compost, soil, cut green grass, apricot ... I'm still stumped.

"Some people say they smell like sex or old socks," he says. I'm still stumped. It's been a long time since ... I wore old socks.

Join Foodish Cooking School's celebration of all things truffle in its Truffle Magic Cooking Class and Truffle Lunch. Using the freshest truffle from Blue Frog Truffles in Sutton to learn how to incorporate truffles into your cooking in ways that showcase their exquisite flavour. Foodish has incorporated truffle into every aspect of the class and menu, from the sublime entrée to the decadent dessert. These are hands-on classes at Foodish's well-equipped cooking school in Canberra's Belconnen Markets. The class is followed by the meal you have created along with paired wines. Sundays, July 7 and August 4-11, 12.30-4.30pm. $140 with paired wines; $120 without.

Contentious Chef's Truffle Selection: A three course selection of the "best of the day" from Contentious Characters regular menu that has been "truffled up" across all dishes. Available every weekend without wines $115 or with paired wines $145. Combine with a Full or Half Monty Tasting journey across both our old world and new world wine collection. Weekends.

Blue Frog Truffle Hunts include the truffle harvest with dogs, industry information, tastings and the opportunity to buy fresh truffle and truffle products. Hunts are $80 per person and accompanied children 15 years old and under are free. 10am, Sundays throughout the festival.

Join a truffle hunt at L'Air du Wombat at Oallen and share in the excitement as the dogs go on the elusive search. Your guide will explain everything you want to know about truffles, the farm and how it started. Every weekend throughout the festival, from 1am.

A comprehensive introduction to two vibrant and emerging agricultural industries - truffle growing and commercial hazelnut production. Designed to assist attendees to carry out their due diligence when considering entering either industry. Presented by Noel Fitzpatrick, a grower, truffle farming consultant and principal of TruffleGrowing.com and Colin Carter, proprietor of Trufficulture and Hazelnut Nursery Propagators. July 28, 9.30am-3.30pm

Head out to Lake George Winery every weekend as they feature truffles matched to a glass of their new 2019 rose or 2018 shiraz, as part of their winter experience. Think truffle infused cheeses, sliced meat and truffle oil, from their friends at The Truffle Baron. Truffle platter for two is $50 and includes two glasses of wine.