Truffle Foraging With Black Quail Estate
/9 August 2021
Images: Victoria Wells
Nestled along the acclaimed Felton road in the heart of Otago’s wine region you will find Black Quail Estate.
Black Quail Estate is an architectural masterpiece perched above the Kawarau River. This striking estate provides a true taste of Bannockburn’s best; home to an award-winning vineyard, winding groves of olive trees dotting the hillsides, and more unique to this region, truffles.
Whilst Minaret Station’s Head Chef, Alastair Wilson was on the hunt for fresh flavours to bring to the 2021 winter cuisine, Rod and Mirani Keillor of Black Quail Estate extended an invitation to their beautiful property to try his hand at foraging for truffles.
Passionate foodies themselves, Rod and Mirani enjoy hosting dinner parties and working alongside industry-leading chefs as well as other truffle growers to further develop their craft of producing the highest-quality ingredients.
The journey began with an enthusiastic introduction to the truffle hunter himself, Nico.
Nico is the Keillor’s specially trained truffle dog. With a few years of training under his belt, he has started to find his stride after some mentorship with other truffle dogs. with their strong sense of smell, Dogs are a key component in finding the locations of the truffles below the ground.
After an enjoyable stroll alongside the river and grapevines, the team arrived at the ever-quaint “truffle office”, where Rod and Mirian keep their supplies and the real adventure begins. Continuing to the grove of hazelnut trees, Rod asked Nico; “where’s the truffle?” With his tail wagging, Nico’s nose promptly went to the ground and began skimming the surface as everyone followed.
Once Nico found a truffle, he scratched the surface of the dirt where the truffle was buried. Rod then knelt down and begin pushing aside the dirt layer-by-layer in the final hunt for this delicacy. Nico waited excitedly beside him, evidently hoping for a promising result. Digging up a truffle is an art form in and of itself; Rod took extreme care to avoid damaging the truffle in the process. Once extracted from the dirt (about 10cm below the surface) Nico was praised and provided with a treat, along with a satisfying sniff of the truffle. And so the process would repeat itself.
Rod spoke with Ian Hall, the mycologist who introduced truffle fungi to New Zealand. Many advised the success of harvesting truffle in Otago would be very unlikely, but after a few years of soil testing and temperature monitoring, the Keillor’s felt confident,
“Someone has to be the pioneer”
And so, sixteen years ago, they planted their 200 hazelnut trees at the estate. Hazelnut trees will typically take about five years to produce truffles in the right conditions. And much to their excitement, after ten years of tending to their truffiere , they gained their first crop in 2015of Périgoid black truffles, a melanosporum fungus. This crop has continued to produce every year since.
After concluding the harvest, we went inside to clean the truffles and Rod explained the various factors involved in grading the quality of a truffle. The most obvious indication of the truffle quality is the sweet, yet musky smell. Rod also looks for size, rounded shape, colour quality, and ensuring the truffle is not damaged.
At Minaret Station, the fine details come together in creating our exclusive gastronomic experience.
Our chefs tailor every dish based on ingredients of the season, delicacies of the region, and the preferences of each guest. By not holding to a menu our chiefs ensure no two dishes are alike. We work with partners that share similar values and are experts within their crafts to provide a world-renowned tailor-made culinary journey.
From Harvest to Enjoyment at the Mountain Kitchen at Minaret Station
Wild Venison Tartare
Head Chef Alastair Wilson begins this dish with a fillet of wild venison from Alpine Deer. The venison is topped with mayonnaise made from pureed kina from the west coast, egg yolks, chardonnay vinegar, miso paste, mirin, and olive oil.
The third layer of this Tartare includes crispy leeks shallow fried in grapeseed oil and hazel nuts smoked over burning manuka embers.
Finally, Alastair includes his black truffle from Black Quail Estate freshly shaved to finish.
