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| Canberra's truffles butter up Camilla and unearth common ground with the Turnbulls | Canberra's truffles butter up Camilla and unearth common ground with the Turnbulls |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Nobody ever looked regal eating scrambled eggs, and the duchess knew it. On this sodden Wednesday, Camilla Parker-Bowles had come to a truffle farm on the eastern edge of Canberra to sample local delicacies. There was truffle-infused honey (“Very nice,” she said), truffled ice-cream freshly frozen using liquid nitrogen (“Very quick,” she said) — and a greasy pan of scrambled eggs finished with truffled butter. | |
| Related: Call that a knife? Prince Charles and Camilla in Australia – in pictures | Related: Call that a knife? Prince Charles and Camilla in Australia – in pictures |
| Damian, the chef, ladled a rubbery chunk into a bowl and passed it to the Duchess of Cornwall. She paused for a second, surveying the wall of photographers before her. Resigned to her fate, she took a mouthful. The cameras erupted in unison, like a wave crashing to shore. | Damian, the chef, ladled a rubbery chunk into a bowl and passed it to the Duchess of Cornwall. She paused for a second, surveying the wall of photographers before her. Resigned to her fate, she took a mouthful. The cameras erupted in unison, like a wave crashing to shore. |
| About 3,000 French and English oaks lined the farm on Mount Majura road. Last year it produced 140kg of truffles, owner Sherry McArdle-English said. The fungi fetch at least $2,500 per kilo. Journalists were asked to step in a container of light bleach before they entered the grounds. | About 3,000 French and English oaks lined the farm on Mount Majura road. Last year it produced 140kg of truffles, owner Sherry McArdle-English said. The fungi fetch at least $2,500 per kilo. Journalists were asked to step in a container of light bleach before they entered the grounds. |
| Not so the duchess, nor her entourage, who stepped through the gate unbleached. (One imagines whatever they walk in all day actually encourages truffles to grow.) | Not so the duchess, nor her entourage, who stepped through the gate unbleached. (One imagines whatever they walk in all day actually encourages truffles to grow.) |
| On leads nearby were Snuffles the American cocker-spaniel and Samson the black lab. The plan was for the two truffle-hunters to give a royal demonstration. Snuffles, curled under a picnic table for shelter, seemed uninterested. “She’s here for the photos,” manager Jayson Mesman confessed. “Samson will be doing the handwork.” | On leads nearby were Snuffles the American cocker-spaniel and Samson the black lab. The plan was for the two truffle-hunters to give a royal demonstration. Snuffles, curled under a picnic table for shelter, seemed uninterested. “She’s here for the photos,” manager Jayson Mesman confessed. “Samson will be doing the handwork.” |
| But there was a problem: truffles, which can take three years to grow, are only “ripe” in mid-winter. As a workaround Jayson had trudged into the fields earlier that day, burying a particularly impressive specimen in camera-friendly location. | But there was a problem: truffles, which can take three years to grow, are only “ripe” in mid-winter. As a workaround Jayson had trudged into the fields earlier that day, burying a particularly impressive specimen in camera-friendly location. |
| A great cheer went up as Samson bounded into the field and then settled in one pungent spot. Mesman unearthed the clump and presented it for smelling to the duchess, McArdle-English and Lucy Turnbull, the wife of the prime minister. | A great cheer went up as Samson bounded into the field and then settled in one pungent spot. Mesman unearthed the clump and presented it for smelling to the duchess, McArdle-English and Lucy Turnbull, the wife of the prime minister. |
| The conversation proceeded as you might imagine among three truffle enthusiasts, at least two of them worth a bajillion. | The conversation proceeded as you might imagine among three truffle enthusiasts, at least two of them worth a bajillion. |
| “It’s huge,” Turnbull said. “The ones we get are normally much smaller.” | “It’s huge,” Turnbull said. “The ones we get are normally much smaller.” |
| Camilla appeared to enquire if it was the biggest to be found here. | Camilla appeared to enquire if it was the biggest to be found here. |
| “Oh no, the largest we’ve ever found is 500 grams,” McArdle-English said. | “Oh no, the largest we’ve ever found is 500 grams,” McArdle-English said. |
| A royal spade — identical to the one Prince Charles had wielded in Adelaide the previous day — stuck out in the dirt nearby. One last regal act awaited the duchess: to plant tree number 3,001, a specially selected English oak, beside a plaque commemorating the occasion. | A royal spade — identical to the one Prince Charles had wielded in Adelaide the previous day — stuck out in the dirt nearby. One last regal act awaited the duchess: to plant tree number 3,001, a specially selected English oak, beside a plaque commemorating the occasion. |
| She turned the sod with gusto, and was ushered into a waiting limousine, entourage and travelling British press in tow. | She turned the sod with gusto, and was ushered into a waiting limousine, entourage and travelling British press in tow. |
| “I believe her royal highness really enjoyed it,” McArdle-English said afterwards. Turnbull, characteristically cool, said she too had enjoyed the event thoroughly. | “I believe her royal highness really enjoyed it,” McArdle-English said afterwards. Turnbull, characteristically cool, said she too had enjoyed the event thoroughly. |
| She betrayed no trace of republican allegiance. Perhaps this pricey fungi could be common ground for the ruling couples? “Malcolm is completely infatuated with truffles,” Turnbull said. | She betrayed no trace of republican allegiance. Perhaps this pricey fungi could be common ground for the ruling couples? “Malcolm is completely infatuated with truffles,” Turnbull said. |