The Fungi Feastival's first truffle hunt was a sensory sensation.
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Before enjoying a tasting plate of truffle treats, people had their noses to the ground in search of the distinctive truffle smell and got dirt under their fingernails as they eased the delicacies out of the rich soil that is home to Gulaga Gold.
Gulaga Gold is the only truffiere on the NSW South Coast and as co-owner Alan Burdon said "it was something of a gamble".
His wife, Fiona Kotvojs, who grew up on the family farm at Dignams Creek, wanted a way to make small farms more commercially viable.
She came up with the idea of growing truffles.
They established their truffiere in 2012 and some five years later dogs bought down from Canberra found truffles.
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Alluring but mysterious
Although the earliest reference to truffles dates back to 1,000 BC, truffles "are something of a mystery and the science is ongoing," Mr Burdon told eager truffle hunters at the property on Saturday, June 17.
Ms Kotvojs said it still isn't known what makes truffles grow, where they grow and how to increase production.
What is known is that it takes around six frosts for the truffles to ripen and they need an alkaline soil.
They put 70 tonnes of lime into their one hectare plot to raise its pH level to 8.
They then planted three types of saplings - English oak, Spanish oak and hazelnuts - that had been inoculated with spores.
Hepburn's starring role
Traditionally French farmers in the Perigord region sniffed out truffles with a very large sow on a lead.
However pigs love to eat truffles so Gulaga Gold advertised for dogs that could be trained to locate truffles.
Six-year old Australian Koolie Hepburn is the third dog to have graduated and is in her third year of being a professional truffle dog.
All three dogs that have graduated are cattle dogs or sheep dogs who enjoy working and can focus for 30 to 60 minutes on locating truffles without being distracted by the surrounding smorgasbord of smells.
Double your truffle pleasure
Gulaga Gold's truffles retail at $2 per gram with a little going a long way.
They should be wrapped in paper towel in a screw-top jar in the fridge and used within a week.
People can get more bang from their truffle by placing eggs or cheese in the truffle jar.
Truffle-infused cheddar and truffle butter can be frozen so that truffle addicts can enjoy them year round and not just the brief season of mid-June to mid-August.
Get in early to buy tickets for the remaining six Fungi Feastival truffle hunts.
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