If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to cook for a President, Danièle Mazet-Delpeuch knows. She was the first female chef to cook in France’s Elysee Palace under President Mitterand. Her tenure was controversial and fascinating – the stuff that movies are made up of. In fact, the new French film Haute Cuisine is based on her life.

And one evening in Sydney, 140 diners would get to try some of the dishes that featured in the  film. The event held at the Sofitel hotel with its proud French tradition was sold out with a waiting list. Included in the three course menu is Mitterand’s favourite dish: choux farci au saumon which is a layered dish with salmon stuffed between cabbage layers.

Humourous, warm and modest, Danièle who is now in her mid seventies answers questions candidly on her remarkable life and the film. “They wanted to do a movie about food and fun and politics and you may know that for two years I was the private chef of the President of France and after the film was released people in fact didn’t want to hear that much about the palace they just wanted to know who was the real cook, who was the actress playing the cook.”

The idea of a female chef ruffled feathers in the traditionally male dominated French kitchens but Danièle’s response is disarming. “You know I really love to be a woman and it never bothered me. I just don’t care! Most of the time maybe because I love men so much, I don’t realise that they don’t like me!”

In 2000 after she had left the palace, she also embarked on another challenge, cooking for sixty Frenchmen at an Antarctic station. “I was almost 60 and I felt like I was getting old so I need (sic) a change and I went on the internet and I found an ad going to Antarctica. I liked the idea so I called the number.” She didn’t have the necessary qualification that the ad desired but “I said I have a good reference,  I was the chef for the President. [The woman] ‘Oh that’s fine! but I want to tell you that you have no chance to go there because you are a woman.’ I said “Pardon?” She asked ‘How old are you?’ and I said “59.” Daniele pauses for effect. ‘Oh madame, you have no chance at all. The limit is 30 (years old).’ I said “Are you telling me that as I am a woman, an old woman, I can’t apply? I’m going to apply and I want to go… and I went!”

Foie gras au torchon, apple ginger, chutney and cocao nibs tuile served with Champagne Taittinger Prestige Rose, NV

The foie gras au torchon was something that we ate a lot while in Montreal and Quebec City. It’s where de- veined foie gras is wrapped in cloth and then poached and sliced. It is served simply with an apple ginger chutney and a delicately thin cacao nib tuile which lends the foie gras additional sweetness without having the melting quality of chocolate. Danièle is considered the queen of foie gras and when asked what she thought of states like California banning foie gras she says ”If I were in California I would be a little upset but I live in France where a lot of farms, especially in south west of France live on raising geese for foie gras. It’s almost in our genes and I respect any ideas about that. Personally I still love foie gras very much.”

Choux farci au Saumon de Tasmanie served with Champagne Taittinger Grand Cru NV

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There is one area of Sydney in which I’ve always wanted to live. The Rocks area is the historic centre of Sydney in one of the prettiest with beautiful sandstone buildings, heritage listed houses with a sparkling blue Sydney harbour waterfront that shines like a diamond when the sunshine comes out. Legendary tales and ghosts abound and it is perhaps because of this other worldly company that I like it so – I figure I’ll never be lonely around a ghost!

This Friday night, I arrive on Jack Mundey place off Argyle Street right in the middle of The Rocks where the area has been transformed for the annual vintage dinner. Many  of the 260 people have dressed up in vintage clothing and the $150 per person ticket event sold out within two weeks. It’s a perfect rain free Sydney evening and vintage lampshades light up the street. These lampshades were discards that were retrieved, each decorated and fixed up by hand.

The idea of the Vintage dinner actually comes from the idea of a wine dinner at a vineyard at the end of a harvest with share tables and good food and wine. There are two long tables, one on Jack Mundey place (he was an environmental and union activist) and the other on Kendall Lane. The other meaning of vintage ties in with The Rocks historical pedigree. Tonight, there are six of The Rocks’s restaurants serving up food as well as several wineries and wine areas of NSW represented. The currency is a handful of twelve rocks, literally, given a linen drawstring pouch. Diners can select what they want from the stalls where each item ranges from one to three rocks.

We peruse the menu while at the table and each course has a suggested matching wine but nothing quite beats having a look at the food and seeing it up close. Portion sizes and popularity varies between each stand. The lovely Natascha Moy from the Food in Focus radio show and I decide to team up and share our rocks for maximum tasting opportunities. To be honest, at first, we thought that we wouldn’t have enough rocks and that people might not like the idea of paying $150 to get their own meals on bamboo plates but everyone seems very happy. We figured that one  rock represented about $12.50 just based on the number we received and the ticket price.

Sake’s Pan seared Cone Bay ocean barramundi with butter soy and a buckwheat, tomato and edamame salsa dressed with sweet yuzu ponzu, 3 rocks

We wander down to the end and decide to try the barramundi from Sake. The queues aren’t long and if you like to do a bit of chef watching, they’re at each stand plating up their food. Everything is freshly cooked  and the plates don’t sit around waiting for customers which is good.  The pan seared Cone Bay ocean barramundi had a lovely butter soy on it and was paired with a buckwheat, tomato and edamame salsa and a piquant, sweet yuzu ponzu dressing. The fish was very nicely cooked and moist within and the side was well balanced and seasoned although this was on the more expensive side at 3 rock’s worth, given its size.

Pony’s Thirlmere chicken with split green bean, fennel and asparagus salad, spiced aioli, 3 rocks

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Sex. Earth. Dirty laundry. Old socks. A male swine’s sexual scent.

These are all words or phrases that have been used to describe truffles (tuber melanosporum). Truffles, and I mean the mushroomy type and not the chocolate type (also worth pursuing) are a relatively new addition to the Australian scene especially when compared with the history of truffles in Europe. Revered by many for their mysterious and intoxicating aroma they are a prize that people coo and hush over. Because of their exclusivity and rarity they’ve been imitated with profusion and their scarcity means that they’re even more highly prized.

At the top are Perigord truffles, the Winter black truffle commanding prices as high as almost $2,000 AUD a kilo here in Australia or even $4,000NZD in New Zealand. In France they’re delivered in baskets woven from chestnut leaves to allow air to flow freely. There are all sorts of tales of truffle intrigue including Summer truffles (considered a lesser truffle to the Winter truffle) being sold and inferior truffles being stored with superior ones to absorb the superior truffle’s aroma.

Having only eaten them I was curious to see how they are grown and found. Are they like little black gold nuggets? And do they bring pigs out to sniff out these little morsels of flavour? When I was asking if I would like to come along on a truffle hunt the answer was immediate. Absolutely! To be part of a truffle hunt is a top 10 bucket list item for me. And you’re coming along with me today Dear Reader!

We’ve arrived at Chateau Yering in Victoria’s Yarra Valley just an hour’s drive from Melbourne. The drive is easy and we arrive with time to spare for the 1:30pm truffle hunt. There are 22 other people that are joining Chateau Yering chef Matthew Macartney for their second annual truffle hunt at the Tibooburra winery estate, also a truffière. Most of us are first timers and have never been to a truffle hunt before and that lends a certain excitement and mystery to the whole proceedings.

The truffle dogs: Ziva (on left) and Spice (on right)

We board a bus and take the half hour drive to Tibooburra Estate where Greg and his family have been growing truffles since 2005. Greg and his daughters greet us along with Sue and Darren from the Australian Shepherd dog club who have brought along the truffle dogs. Nowadays dogs are used instead of pigs as they are easier to handle and don’t eat the truffle once they find it whereas pigs have to be pulled off the truffle once they discover it as they love to eat them. They’ve had a preliminary look with the dogs and tells us today that we might be able to find a couple of truffles today. Truffle hunting is never a certainty but the two Australian shepherd dogs Spice and her apprentice Ziva (yes named after the NCIS character Ziva) have been down to have a look and have indicated that there are some specimens.

Training  a dog to become a truffle dog is an interesting process in itself. Pigs and other animals such as possums will naturally feed on truffles whereas dogs aren’t interested in eating them. To train a dog (and many breeds of dog can be trained to be truffle dogs) they hide a ball of cotton wool soaked in truffle oil inside the dog’s favourite toy. The dog then gets used to associating the truffle aroma with play and over time seeks out that aroma and associates it with playing and treats. And even though truffle oil is a synthetic product that often has little to do with actual truffle, the dog’s sense of smell nevertheless can learn to associate the smell of truffles in the ground with their toys.

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