Every chef has a tale of things gone awry, a kitchen incident they would rather forget. But when asked, most chefs have no hesitation recounting their difficult moments on the job.

James Viles of Biota Dining, Bowral, |Australia was a young cook in a restaurant with a small brigade of chefs when the head chef rang down from his office. ''He asked the apprentice and I to make the truffle mash for a pork hock dish,'' Viles says. ''Young and eager we began. However, the addition of truffle had us both puzzled. First, we made the mash. We then chopped one truffle and folded it through. Thinking there was not enough flavour and not knowing what flavour we were looking for, we proceeded to chop eight truffles - about 700 grams - and folded it all through. Verbal and physical abuse followed. And about two months of heavy-duty cleaning.'' (Provedore Simon Johnson says the retail bill for 700 grams of West Australian truffles would be $1500 today). With truffles, a little knowledge goes a long way…