A Truffle Extravaganza at St Ali

A few weeks back (or more, shhhhh), I was watching my twitter app on mac (as most people do surely?) and saw that St Ali was giving away two tickets to their truffle dinner on Thursday if you simply tweeted 'I love truffles'.

I tweeted as fast as I could. At first I thought I was too late, but not too long after, I got a DM saying that I had gotten them!

I was freaking out, I don't mean to be cliche but…I never win anything, so I was absolutely chuffed and bursting with capital letters, emoticons and exclamation marks as I told Brad about it on Facebook.

I actually, quite shamefully didn't even realise the dinner was happening until that moment! I had heard of one that was organized on the 1st of July, but was unfortunately out of town at the time and had been absolutely kicking myself when I found out I couldn't make it! Fortunately though, this did come up and the wonderful opportunity to indulge in one of the most privileged ingredients was on my agenda!

This event was organized by Ed from Tomatom, as part of the Fringe Food Festival which after hearing about, I think is a wonderful initiative.

The idea for dinner simply came about as Madame Truffles had popped up next door to St Ali...well, there's the produce, there's the location, bring in chef Scott Pickett (now owner of the Estelle in Northcote) and you have a wonderful formula for dinner on your hands.

The wines this night were all from Crittenden estate, we started off with a white. I can't remember the story fully but apparently it's made with an Albarino grape from Spain, but had been long thought to be a different grape from France? All the same, it was quite different to most other whites, leaning away from being sweet and light to being almost savoury, I had come across. Regardless I enjoyed it quite a bit.

This was Brad's first time eating truffles (Gasp!), so I was pleased we were given an opportunity to have a look and a smell of the lovely produce. And even though I had a slightly blocked nose, the truffle aroma was hard to miss.

We were treated to a grand 3 courses this night, the first course being boneless chicken wings with NSW truffles and a little spinach (I think?). What on earth did boneless chicken wings look like? Like...sausages. Frankly. It was such a curious idea and fun approach. And it was certainly nice for lazy people like me who just like to get into their meat!

Every bite of this was lovely, the truffles were ground into a luscious sauce that you couldn't help but mop up with the meat. Whilst small, it was the perfect punch of richness to start the night with.

The second course, with a poached egg sitting on top of polenta with Tasmanian truffle and crumbed brioche sprinkled over the top was absolutely perfection. Just look at that gorgeous heap of truffle there. There are no words to describe how delicious this was.

The egg yolk was just perfect for mixing with the soft and creamy, creamy, creamy, creamy polenta which was oh so tasty and perfect. I'm pretty sure the table went quiet when we all took a bite. The toasted brioche crumbs were the absolute perfect accompaniment, adding a richness and crunch in the sea of comforting softness. A sprinkling of grated cheese. And then of course, you had the Tasmanian truffles which just elevated the dish itself to a new level, from slippers and a cuppa tea at home comforting, to luxurious...300 thread count egyptian cotton with a glass of Dom Perignon comforting. I'm seriously not kidding. This would have definitely been my favourite dish of the night.

I was so eager to get into our third course, I forgot to take pictures of it before I started eating!

Fortunately Jane hadn't quite tucked in though, and I managed to snap some lovely pictures of the handmade pappardelle, with french butter and Western Australian truffles. Again, just gorgeous. The pasta brought me right back to Italy, where the servings are not twice the size of your face and the pasta is simple and just cooked perfectly. You could smell this guy from a mile away, the Western Australian truffles being so aromatic, especially with the rich, rich butter. How do the Europeans get it so right? Bruce had mentioned earlier, if anyone had cholesterol problems...this dish probably wasn't going to be their friend!

Western Australian truffles...

New South Wales truffles...

And Tasmanian truffles were all brought out for a final sharing comparison. Each crowning a plate of lovely, creamy scrambled eggs for us to try and pick out the differences and flavours. Ah if only I could do this for breakfast everyday... I completely forgot to take notes but I think I was slightly more partial to the Tasmanian truffle as I think it was a little more aromatic, which kind of makes it for me. It was definitely a toss up between the Tasmanian and NSW truffle though!

I made sure my servings of eggs were all separate so that I could try and pick out the differences!

It was really a wonderful night, Ed did a fantastic job getting it organized, Scott cooked some amazing food, St Ali provided the perfect intimate venue and Madame Truffles, of course, the truffles. It was wonderful to be sitting on a table surrounded by people who love nothing more than cooking, eating (home and out), food and wine. It's being at these sort of events that make me realise how much I love the food culture we have in Melbourne and I certainly look forward to what the Fringe Food Festival will be coming up with next...

A big thank you to St Ali for the tickets via twitter!

Fringe Food Festival

St Ali
12/18 Yarra Pl
South Melbourne, 3205