One sniff and you're hooked

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This was published 14 years ago

One sniff and you're hooked

Aroma therapy ... striking pay dirt.

Aroma therapy ... striking pay dirt.Credit: Erin Jonasson

The truffle dogs are excited. They bark and frolic as they prepare to hunt for truffles, which are also known as "the diamond of the kitchen". Truffles are among the world's most sought-after delicacies and now black truffles are being harvested in several parts of Australia.

The Wine & Truffle Company, in Manjimup, is the southern hemisphere's largest producer. Here, visitors can searchfor truffles worth thousands of dollars a kilogram.

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During the winter truffle season, guests can join handler Damon Boorman, his labrador Errol and other truffle dogs in the trufferie (a picturesque 21-hectare hazelnut and oak forest), 3½ hours south of Perth.

Truffles are collected at their time of peak maturity, which in Australia is from late May to the end of August. This is when the fungi which can exceed a cricket ball in size but are rough-hewn, almost warty emit their most intense perfume.

After being plucked from the ground, truffles are brushed, washed and graded into classes before being vacuum-packed and sold around the world. Truffles are part of the mushroom family and grow on the roots of trees infected with truffle spores. They cost about $3 a gram and you'll need at least 30 grams to transform a family meal.

Participants on a truffle hunt can help dig up the truffles the dogs find and sniff them as they are lifted from the soil (the smell is amazingly pungent a signal of the difference the merest shaving of truffle can make to a dish).

Once let off the leash, Errol keeps his nose close to the ground, totally focused, pausing only to collect a treat when he has found a truffle in the shade of a tree.

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The best dogs (dogs are now used almost exclusively, rather than truffle pigs) can find the truffle scent from 50 metres or more.

A good team of dogs can cover the 40kilometres along the truffle tree rows in less than seven days.

The plantation has more than 13,000 trees, making it the largest in mainland Australia, and its location was chosen because the climatic and soil factors are similar to truffle-producing areas in France.

Visitors can later help the resident chef shave the truffles that have been unearthed and, in the case of premium packages, enjoy a meal featuring the ones they've dug up.

Chef Iain Menzies has crafted a menu using the local truffles, so you can taste them in a variety of dishes (including truffle ice-cream) as you learn about the delicacy.

The opening of this year's season will be marked on the weekend of May 30-31 with the Manjimup Truffle Affaire a six-course truffle degustation lunch (think dishes like marron and truffle ravioli), matched with the estate's own wines, for $195 a person. The Wine & Truffle Company produces local wines under the Truffle Hill label, which can be sampled at the cellar door before or after your truffle experience or can accompany a meal in the on-site cafe.

Outside the winter truffle season, you can still enjoy a simulated hunt, with the dogs displaying their prowess by finding hidden tennis balls doused in truffle essence.

A region to watch

The truffle experience is just one gourmet activity on offer in the Great Southern region of WA. If you only have two or three days, the Albany-Denmark-Mount Barker triangle offers plenty of diversions.

Albany, the region's biggest town, is a five-hour drive from Perth, so many visitors make their way through either Geographe or Margaret River.The Albany Farmers Markets are held every Saturday from 8am-noon and are the ideal place to sample fresh produce from local farms. The regional fruits and vegetables are outstanding.

The Mount Barker, Porongurup and Frankland regions are being rapidly recognised for their superior wine, olive groves and produce, ranging from honey to berries and great seafood.

Maleeya's Thai Cafe is a real find. This little cabin in a Porongurup bush setting serves terrifically good food. The Pemberton and Manjimup regions are also excellent for viticulture because of their southerly latitude and high altitude, which create a relatively cool Mediterranean-style climate.

There are plenty of good dining options in Albany, from the upmarket Wild Duck to Leonardo's, Lime 303 and the Japanese cuisine at the charming Gosyu-Ya at Emu Point. Also drop into the boutique Tanglehead Brewery downtown, where brewer Allan Kelly creates an ever-changing range of beers.

Wine lovers, meanwhile, will want to spend some time in the nearby hamlet of Denmark a lovely little town on the Denmark River.

Here, the stellar cellar doors include Forest Hill, Howard Park-Madfish and West Cape Howe. Forest Hill's cellar-door restaurant, Greenpool, is one of the best in the country.

Denmark Farmhouse Cheeses and Bartholomew's Meadery are also worth the stop. The township of Frankland River is but a speck on the map but the area, climatically similar to Bordeaux, is home to three of the best wineries in the state: Frankland Estate lauded for its superb rieslings Ferngrove and regional pioneer, Alkoomi.

The writer was a guest of West Australian Tourism.

TRIP NOTES


The Wine & Truffle Company hosts hunts and a tasting, from $55 a person; $99 for a package that includes lunch and a glass of wine. Bookings essential. Phone (08)97772474, see wineandtruffle.com.au.


Australia's south-west has visitor centres in the region's big towns. See australiassouthwest.com.

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