Truffle Kerfuffle

Everyone has heard of the infamous Black Truffle but have you ever smelled or tasted one? How many different ways can truffles be used? Luckily, I got to find out this weekend at the Annual Truffle Kerfuffle in Manjimup. It's the Southern Forrest Food Festival and there was heaps to eat, drink and see!

The Black Truffle :)

Beautiful venue...

on a beautiful day!

Plenty of local wine and beer tasting. The standout of the day...Lillian. Made by John Brocksopp, one of the founding viticulturist of Leeuwin Estate, now makes Rhone varietals in Pemberton.

Free tasting of local organic cheese

The food was mouthwatering good! They had everything from free tastings of organic chocolate to flavored fudge to smoked meats to a 'cafeteria' like you've never seen before! The gourmet cafeteria had multiple stands where you could buy different truffle dishes. I wish I could have tried them all but I just didn't have enough room after the free tastings so I asked other people while they were eating to rate their dish and I picked the top 3. I may have embarrassed my friend but I'm serious about food...I probably should have worn stretch pants :)

Grilled marron with truffle aioli. I've never tried marron before so I went for it but this dish lacked flavor of any kind let alone that of truffle but the texture of the marron was good. I'll definitely try marron again just with a different preparation. 

Homemade truffle sausage

Soooo good...lots of flavor so the truffle was a bit difficult to distinguish. Definitely tasted earthy but I wonder if using mushroom would of had the same effect? Plus, there was a tomato jam on it that I could have eaten by the spoonful!

Truffle paella...the best dish and there was a long line to prove it.

And my favorite part of the day was a Masterclass with an Australian top chef! He demonstrated how to make a truffle infused dessert. Apparently, using truffle in a dessert is uncommon and difficult to do successfully.

Chef Shawn Sheather during the demonstration. He advised truffles can have a strong garlic smell and taste so be careful when picking your truffles for a dessert. Truffles are unique and all smell and taste different from one another.

Shawn's plating of the Truffle Infused Fig & Baby Pear on Toasted Brioche with Honey Mascarpone. Check out the Australian Good Food & Travel Guide for the recipe. The website also offers a 5 Course Truffle Dinner Menu with recipes.

Our baby bite size version to taste. Yes please and thank you! Tasted so good. I really enjoyed the honey mascarpone. I would have liked more on my bite size...I know, spoken like a true fat kid ;)

It was a perfect day!!!