A nose for truffles

By Emma Sun
The fungus, which can be worth more in weight than gold, can command more than $2000 per kilogram in Australia and is very popular in the haute cuisine scene.
Ms Brimacombe from Mount Burnett has been in the truffle-hunting scene for almost four years, and recently attended a truffle themed dinner at Vue de Monde in the Rialto Tower to give a talk on training dogs to hunt for truffles.
She and her two pure-bred Australian shepherd dogs, Ziva and mum Spice, also did a demonstration in front of more than 100 guests.
“I hid some decoys that were infused with truffle scents and got dogs to find them,” she explained.
Ms Brimacombe said it was a great night and she immensely enjoyed the eight-course meal that owner Shannon Bennett had prepared, which featured truffles from four regions in Australia.
“There were truffles from Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania,” she said.
“There were two courses for each region throughout the night and we got to taste each dish.”
While she loved each dish for its own distinct flavour, Ms Brimacombe said the Victorian truffles, which she and her dogs had a hand in finding, tasted the best.
“My favourite dish was the first course which was the canapé, truffle marshmallows and the truffle with brie cheese was stunning – they were my two favourite courses,” she said.
Ms Brimacombe, a member of the Australian Shepherd Club of Victoria, runs Brimfeldt Truffle Dogs.