Who is The Truffle Lady?
Gail Galvin, the founder of The Truffle Lady, is a self-proclaimed lover of quality ingredients, especially truffles!
With a passion for cooking and enjoying unique flavours and other delicacies, Gail Galvin was able to turn her love for truffles into a thriving bona fide business. The Truffle Lady is a specialist importer and distributor of fresh truffles, and preserved truffle products, such as Stonebarn Truffle oils, mayonnaise, aioli, honey, salad dressings, chilli sauce and so much more.
Gail’s business came about through pure chance. Friends introduced Gail to truffle dealers who saw that her sparkling personality made her a perfect representative for their scrumptious products in South Africa. Gail, too, saw the synergy – ‘I’ve always been drawn to beautiful things, and what could be more luxuriously delicious than truffles?’ she says.
But while the product may be glamorous, her job certainly isn’t. Gail oversees all aspects of the business herself, from delivering products (sometimes at bizarre hours) to stacking shelves with her merchandise, meeting with chefs to explain her offering and overseeing issues related to imports.
She’s also expanded the business, so that in addition to truffle condiments, she imports premium grade truffles (‘from harvest to your plate in 48 hours!’). At the same time, she’s applying her love of food to experimenting with ingredients and innovating niche products, like her banana energy bars.
‘It’s hard work, but I’m living my dream. For me, the greatest pleasure in life is sharing time together, preferably over a table laden with wonderful food, as the sun turns everything golden … and my products are definitely a part of that lifestyle!’
About the Stonebarn truffle farm
Stonebarn Truffles, produced and imported from Manjimup, Western Australia. Stonebarn is a 2,000+ tree truffiére and luxury lodge that produce exceptional quality premium French Périgord Black Truffle –Tuber melanosporum – a highly sought-after variety and considered amongst the finest of all truffle varieties. They grow under the oak and hazelnut trees in a symbiotic relationship with the roots and are harvested throughout the Australian winter months of June, July and August.
Black Périgord truffles vary in size from 3cm in diameter to the size of a large orange.
The aroma and flavour of truffles have been described as earthy – the floor of the forest, damp earth, roasted dry fruits and chocolate – with a memorable aroma and lingering aftertaste. Nothing beats the exquisite experience of fresh truffle!
Truffle is at its best as fresh as possible, to preserve aroma and flavour. We ship in custom-designed coolers express directly from the Stonebarn farm to every corner of the globe, ensuring you receive your truffle as fresh and as soon as possible.
About the Truffle Hunters
The sensitive noses of our specially trained truffle dogs detect the unique aroma of the truffle buried treasure. The truffle hunts occur once a week in the morning for the duration of the season.