Canberra Truffle Festival 2015: 5 things you need to know

▪ What's on: Canberra Truffle Festival 2015 events

How to train your truffle dog

You can't do it without a truffle dog (or pig). Trainer Jayson Mesman's black labrador Samson is one of the best in the business. He's found tonnes of truffles with pinpoint accuracy and is worth his weight in expensive fungi - Mesman has been offered tens of thousands of dollars for the dog. Then there's the famous Snuffle, the fluffy, teddy-bear like American cocker spaniel who hunts at French Black Truffles with Sherry McArdle-English.

McArdle-English found her truffle dog by going to a breeder and sitting down with a litter of tiny, nine-week-old puppies who swarmed round and tried to play. But only one puppy kept hitting on McArdle-English's pocket, trying to get at something hidden inside, something she found irresistible. That puppy was Snuffle and she had found her first ever truffle, hidden inside McArdle-English's pocket. "I looked at the breeder and said, 'This is the one,'" she says. Once Snuffle came home, McArdle-English put a truffle down in the middle of the living room floor and watched as the puppy ran towards it. Then she picked up the truffle and put down Snuffle's dinner, so the dog would associate truffles with food and rewards. After that, the truffle would be hidden in different spots - under the carpet, behind a door, on the sofa - and Snuffle was asked to sniff it out.

And then she had to be trained to wait once she found a truffle - because you can't reward the truffle dog until you've carefully dug out the precious fungi and worked out if it's good or not. It's a process that can take up to 20 minutes and the dog has to wait until it's all over. And even then, Snuffle sometimes still gets a little over excited. If you go on a truffle hunt and lower your face to the rich black earth to sniff out a truffle that's still in the ground, Snuffle might just stick her head in there with you and give you a good lick. It's like being attacked by a very expensive, extremely expert fluff ball.

What's it like to go on a truffle hunt?

Farms all across the Canberra region are holding hunts throughout the season. Dress in warm layers, and wear sensible shoes - you'll likely have to step into a disinfectant bath before you can enter the truffle fields.

At French Black Truffles in the foothills of Mount Majura, the fields are full of oak and hazelnut trees with the sun streaming through the valley. Further afield at Tarago Truffles out of Bungendore, you drive off the beaten path through hills cloaked in mist, over a railway line, and into lush fields. Once you're all in the field, with clean shoes, the hunt can begin.

The methods of each truffle dog differ. At French Black Truffles, Snuffle runs excitedly from tree to tree while Sherry McArdle-English calls out, "Find truffle! Find truffle!". Samson, the muscular black labrador, is off like a shot when Jayson Mesman instructs him to find a truffle, leaving the humans far behind as he races through the field to sit down in front the chosen tree. Most of his time is spent waiting for us to trudge over to him. Over at Tarago Truffles, the famous Threespot, a portly Jack Russell named for exactly the reason you'd think, is a little more laid back in his attitude to the hunt. He prefers to go on a leisurely stroll through the trees - keeping up is not a problem with this truffle dog - before taking a gander at a tree and then pawing at the ground to indicate there's a truffle underneath. Then he trots off to find someone to pat him.

Once the dog finds a truffle and points out where to dig, its owner kneels down to the ground and starts gently excavating the earth. Slowly, the edges of a truffle are revealed, still embedded in the dirt. You can get right down into the dirt and sniff it out for yourself - the earth will be infused with nutty, mushroomy scent. The truffle cannot be broken off the stem until it's ready. If it's not ripe yet, they'll cover it back up with earth and look for another. If it's ready to go, then you keep digging until you've exposed most of it, and then carefully twist - and the truffle snaps off into your hand, caked in dirt and exuding that heady aroma.

And off we go again.

Bring out the big guns

Much lauded celebrity chef Antonio Carluccio was the guest of honour at last year's truffle festival. He stayed at Braidwood at Peter and Kate Marshall's farm Terra Preta and made plenty of appearances during the festival, holding demonstrations and speaking at dinners. And then when he went home to England, he found time to write this legendary letter to the Times of London, defending the honour of Canberra's truffles. Give that man the keys to the city and a lifetime light rail pass.

How to use your truffle

Never, never just shave the truffle onto the top of a dish.

The secret is infusion. Chef Andrew Haskins whips up a truffle dinner at French Black Truffles after a hunt - he and wife Catherine pass around boxes of cream, eggs and salt which have all been infused with truffle. There's even a glass skull-shaped bottle filled with vodka, with a knob of dark truffle sitting on the bottom of the bottle, lending its earthy flavour to the alcohol. The liquid is a pale amber colour - Haskins says the truffle vodka has been infusing for nearly a year. It smells rich and sharp all at once, a heady combination.

Keep the truffle cold and dry, wrapped in a piece of paper towel in an airtight jar in the fridge. Change the paper towel every day - condensation and moisture loss is your enemy.

Cut off a chunk of truffle and put it into a jar of salt, oil or honey. Tuck a piece into a box of arborio rice for a rich risotto. Or grate a little into a container full of cream or whip it into some butter. Or simply sit a chunk of truffles in a glass bowl with some eggs - they'll absorb the truffle flavour through the shell. Rest the eggs on some paper towel and cover with cling film. Haskins suggests that you can pair the truffles with pale coloured ingredients, such as creamy brie, salt, eggs, and cream.

Always seal the containers that hold your truffle and the infusing ingredients. Use airtight jars and containers or wrap bowls tightly with cling film to seal in that flavour.

Once you've infused your ingredients, Haskins advises, you can combine them in a dish so that you get layers of deep, truffly goodness. So use your truffly eggs, butter and cream to make a sauce for pasta, season with truffle salt, and maybe serve with a roast chicken with some truffle inserted under the skin, and then top with grated truffly cheese.

Street slogans

Jayson Mesman probably wins the prize for best truffle based merchandise with his T-shirt: "Every Day I'm Trufflin".

trufflefestival.com.au