We are truffle obsessed

At George’s Truffles we have an innate passion and love for all things truffle; eating truffles, smelling truffles, talking endlessly about truffles and thinking about truffle growing. It is this (sometimes obsessive!) love that drives our commitment to introduce more New Zealanders to this true delicacy via some excellent restaurant and hospitality providers.

Our truffle farm, or truffière, has a mix of 2,200 inoculated Oak and Hazel trees that were planted between 2009 and 2010. We have been successfully producing and finding truffles since 2016. That may not sound like a long time, but we’ve sure hit the ground running!
Dig Deeper

What is a truffle?

There are many, many varieties of truffle that grow around the world - both naturally in the wild, and cultivated in truffières such as ours. One of the most commercially sought after and popular varieties is the Black Périgord - the truffle that we grow - which originates in France. 

Truffles grow underground on the roots of certain trees in a symbiotic relationship. They have a very powerful, almost pungent aroma which makes them a delightfully unique delicacy. This aroma is by clever design so that in the wild, animals (including pigs) will find them, dig them up, eat them, and excrete their spores back into the ground - thus completing their beautiful circle of life!
Man and boy holding truffles

How do you farm truffles?

Obviously there is far more complexity to growing truffles than explained here, but in a nutshell truffles can be cultivated by inoculating the roots of certain trees (for example oaks and hazels) and planting them in favourable soil and climate conditions. Truffles are a mycorrhizal fungus that grow underground on these roots and fruit once a year. There are different truffles that mature at different times of the year - summer truffles and winter truffles among them. 

The Black Périgord truffle is a winter truffle which means that it matures and is ready for harvest in the winter months. The exact season depends on seasonal conditions and can vary earlier or later from year to year.

How do you find truffles?

The New Zealand Black Périgord truffle season runs for three months sometime between May-August every year – when exactly it starts and ends varies from year to year. Because the truffle grows underground they can be hard to find which is why dogs are used during truffle harvests to locate the truffles by scent.
Truffle season

Harvesting truffles

Here at George’s Truffles we hold regular truffle harvests throughout the truffle season with our dog handler Serge and our specially trained dogs, Evee, Lego and Poppy. The process of digging up truffles can be long and tedious (while still being extremely exciting) which is why truffles command a good price at market.

© 2024 by George’s Truffles | Website by Downing

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