So you think the Southern Forests are all about trees and farm stays? Then you haven’t heard about the Black Gold of the South West region. It brings people from all over the world and is sold all over the world. It’s the Truffle of course and coming up soon is the Festival to celebrate all things truffle: The Truffle Kerfuffle.
On the 23rd to the 25th of June the 7th annual Truffle Kerfuffle is being held at Fonty’s Pool, Manjimup: a festival for all things truffle, wine, food and Southern Forests. From truffle hunts to long table lunches, workshops and tastings. You’d be mad if you missed it!
The most prized truffle in French cookery is the black Perigord truffle, which is said to have first inspired diners in the 15th century. Soft, rich soil and a cool temperate climate makes the Southern Forests an ideal location for growing world class truffles. Truffles have been cultivated in this area since the 1990s and there are many local truffieres doing exceptionally well in this industry. Top restaurants in Perth all want the truffles as do European and Asian clients who take advantage of the fact that our truffle season is opposite to the truffle season in Europe.
But what is a truffle?
A truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean fungus. Truffles are a type of fungi that are usually found in close association with tree roots. The black truffle or black Périgord truffle (Tuber melanosporum), the second-most commercially valuable species, is named after the Perigord region in France and grows with oak and hazelnut trees and are harvested in late autumn and winter.
Essentially, from my personal experience, the truffle really isn’t much to look at. It looks like a solid, roundish clump of black dirt that has been sniffed out from the base of a hazelnut or oak tree by a truffle dog. Highly trained truffle dogs are used for their exceptional sense of smell and unlike pigs (which have also been used to hunt out truffles due to their keen sense of smell) they are easier to control and thus preventing them from eating the truffle once it has been found.
My initial thought was that it didn’t have much smell at all. . .until I put it in my fridge without taking the advice I had been given about keeping it in a sealed container. I was eating truffle flavoured eggs, butter and cheese for a while after that. Yes, it can be that pungent! You really do only need a little bit of truffle to flavour a meal.
Truffles also take a long time to grow. That is the trees that have been inoculated with the truffle spores need to reach a certain level of maturity before the fungi will begin to grow. This takes about 7 years. Even then you can’t guarantee that any given tree is going to produce a truffle every year. So you can start to see why they are so expensive. Plus they need specific growing conditions and they have a very short season.
But you don’t need a lot of money or to grow your own truffles just to have a truffle experience. That’s what the Truffle Kerfuffle is all about. You can experience all kinds of truffle related foods, as well as buy a truffle (or even a shaving of a truffle just to try) at the Truffle Kerfuffle market village at Fonty’s Pool. While you’re there you might like to sample some wine, cider, cheese, chocolate; you name it’s there. If you feel like being spoilt you can book a ticket for one of the dinners that show case not only the truffle but all types of local produce prepared by some top notch chefs.
If you’re more interested to see where your truffles are coming from then book a truffle hunt and watch the dogs in action. And while you’re here you can take in some of the best that the Southern Forests have to offer; make it a weekend, a mini break, time out from your busy schedule. Maybe you will get a taste for the black gold, or even just our fantastic region. Either way, you really shouldn’t miss it.