Canberra truffle festival 2015: River Cottage's Paul West is guest of honour

Truffle hunts began on the Queen's birthday long weekend and the Canberra Region Truffle Festival will formally get under way later this month.

Already we've had chefs from Noma visiting the region, who ventured on a truffle hunt with Peter and Kate Marshall at their property Terra Preta in Braidwood.

The headline foodie event is the "Chefs of Canberra" dinner at Janet Jeff's Conservatory restaurant at the Arboretum on July 23. Jeff will be joined in the kitchen by Clement Chauvin of Les Bistronomes, Ben Willis of Aubergine and James Mussillon of Courgette to produce a truffle showcase dinner. River Cottage Australia television star Paul West will be the guest of honour and Sherry McArdle-English will also speak. 6.30pm. $95.

You can also take part in truffle hunts yourself – including hunts in Bredbo, Sutton, Mount Majura, Bungendore and Tarago. And on Monday, June 15, a group of 35 Sydney chefs will descend on the Canberra region to check out the perigord truffles for themselves – they'll participate in a hunt at Blue Frog and Trufflegate farms in Sutton.

They'll then travel to Lerida Estate and check out some truffle dishes prepared by Andrew Haskins from 3Seeds. See trufflefestival.com.au for the full highlights package.