Damian Brabender's love affair with truffles really kicked into gear when he had the opportunity to work with the renowned Italian chef Anthonio Carluccio at a special event at Wolgan Valley Resort back in 2018.
The executive chef and owner of Otis Dining Hall had always been intrigued by the fancy fungus but during his time with Carluccio he gained a real appreciation for the ingredient.
"Just seeing his level of passion and the finesse with which he used the product was just mind boggling," Brabender says.
"We also got to come down to Braidwood together, to Terra Preta Truffles, with the Marshall family, it was a great day."
Since then, Brabender has been championing truffles whenever he can. He opened Otis Dining Hall in Kingston in 2016 and the restaurant's special truffle dinners during the season sell out quickly. He's involved with the annual Canberra Region Truffle Festival and regularly runs workshops for chefs from around Australia.
"We've been running groups of 50 to 60 chefs, four to five times a year, where we'll go out to Pialligo Truffles and we'll do a hunt and then come back and do a bit of talking, some demonstrations, we'll have a meal," he says.
"And most of these chefs who attend will reach back out and tell us how they've incorporated truffle into their own menus.
"We're so lucky here in Canberra to have such great access to some really good truffles grown in the region and it's great to be able to support the industry."
Now Brabender is on his way to the United States, as one of the international guest chefs at the Napa Truffle Festival in California. Hosted by Michelin starred chef Ken Frank (La Toque), Brabender will wave the Australian flag at the four-day event, which is considered North America's premier truffle festival.
"The Americans are one of the world's biggest consumers of truffles and their growing industry is just starting to take off as well," Brabender says.
The festival brings together chefs, truffle scientists, farmers and consumers with events that range from fine-dining dinners to hands-on workshops on how to train a truffle dog.
Brabender is excited about being an unofficial ambassador for Canberra, and Australia.
"The Napa Valley is very similar to Canberra in a lot of ways, from the climate to the food culture," he says.
"The produce from that area, from truffles to wine, is very similar to what we have in this region; their wines are some of the best in the world.
"They have some world-class restaurants, educated consumers and diners, apparently there's even a pumpkin festival like the one we have out at Collector."
Bradbender relishes any opportunity to convince consumers that truffles are for everyone.
"Truffles have been polarising for years, people were scared of the idea of putting truffles on their food, or going into a restaurant and paying an exorbitant amount for dishes with truffles," he says.
"I'm doing all I can to dispel those myths.
"Twenty years ago the idea of eating raw fish in Australia was unheard of, but now you can't find a restaurant menu that doesn't have some kind of raw fish in it.
"The same thing is happening with truffles. They're so easy to use, as long as you know what flavours go with them, and if you think carbs, you can't go wrong.
"They really are an incredible ingredient that cannot be explained through words."
