Margaret River Truffle Farm - Truffle Hunting Experience

8 Lovejoy Road

Cowaramup

WA 6284, Australia

The Margaret River Truffle Farm in Cowaramup, Western Australia is located only 15 mins away from the main Margaret River town and is a rare chance to experience truffle hunting on a working farm. Nestled amongst oak and hazel trees, this farm is a family owned farm and is turning Margaret River into a successful truffle growing region.

We were extremely excited to join this truffle hunt experience because firstly we love truffles, and secondly it is great to see Western Australia flourishing as a truffle producing region. The Southern forests of Manjimup and Pemberton has become Australia' leading regions for black truffle production, and growing. It is now the 4th largest truffle producers globally after the big truffles producers that are Spain, France and Italy. WA supply 80-90 % of all Australian truffles and of course we needed to go to the source to experience this.

Our hunting experience starts with a very educational description by the owners of the farm. We learnt about truffles, growing conditions as well as the farming practices around the farm. Of course, every hunting experience centers around very hard working and sometimes distracted truffle hunting dogs. Our very gentle and eager for pats companion today is Alby, a 3.5 year old retriever, who has taken a liking to eating rocks on the walkway and delighted to get pets from anyone close by. When at the farm though, Alby is focused, tail wagging, nose pressed to the earth as he picks up the scents of truffles:

Alby at work

When he picks up a scent, he does a little dig to indicate and thats where the humans take over. with a little spade, you start to dig gently into the surface and the moment you sight the truffle, that is when you take over use your fingers to dig around the truffle until it dislodges. During truffle hunt experience, you can volunteer to experience this digging process. Right out of the ground, the truffle already has an immensely strong scent.

First truffle found by Alby

Each truffle typically weights about 100 grams and mature trees are able to produce up to 1 kg of truffles after 15 years in the right conditions. The Margaret River Truffle Farm prides itself on purity of practice. There is no pesticide use and no chemical spraying within the orchards, making the quality of their truffles remarkably clean in flavour. The farm mimics classic European growing conditions by adjusting the soil pH with limestone, an old-world technique that allows the delicate fungal-root symbiosis to flourish. One way to determine if there is strong fungal activity beneath the surface, is a ring of burnt edge that can be seen around the ground of the tree. This is a strong sign of potential truffle growth under the surface.

There are many legends and myths around truffles, with many ancient stories indicating that thunder and lightning were responsible for creating truffles. Whilst standing amongst the drenched, earthy row or trees during a rainy Margaret River winter, it is not hard to see where these legends began.

After our hunt session, where we got to dig up 2 truffles, we headed back into the farm shop, where our freshly hunted truffle is washed and then prepped for slicing. Uncut truffles are notoriously difficult to evaluate as pests may lurk unseen inside. This remains an element of risk into buying whole uncut truffles. Yet for many gourmands, the rewards far outweight the risks. Our truffle that we hunted was of great condition, with no internal blemishes and smelt divine.

Our hunt

Truffles are among the most expensive edible treasures on earth, with Australian black truffles ranging from 1500 - 2500 AUD per kilogram, depending on its shape and quality. A perfectly round truffle, which is coveted by chefs and luxury buyers, commands the higher end of the price range. In contrast, the rare Italian Alba truffles go up to 24 000 AUD per kilo, which is often reflected in the pricing at restaurants.

I had mentioned in a previous post that one of the reasons why I love having truffles in Aus is that they serve their truffle slices extremely thick. You get a a huge whiff of truffle even before tasting it and then comes the nice crunch from the truffle itself. A wonderful treat if you ask.

Our hunt for the day shaved

We ended the hunt with some snacks from the Truffle farm and got to taste some of the products including truffle mustard, garlic tuffle aioli, truffle honey, truffle chocolate amongst others.

Overall, it was a fantastic 45 mins. The owners were very passionate and happy to take plenty of questions. The group was also small enough, at 12 pax for us to get up close to the hunting experience. We ended with a taste of our freshly hunted truffle, which was possibly the best way you could end a truffle hunting session.

Alby taking a break after his hunt

Booking

There are 2 types of truffle hunts available, one is the 45 mins Dig Deep Truffle Hunt Experience and the other is the 2 hr Dig Deep and Eat Full Experience. We wanted to go with the 2 hr experience, however, we were unable to secure sufficient seats to that and went with the 45 mins Dig Deep Truffle Hunt Experience instead. It was still a great experience, but I can only imagine how amazing it would be to be part of the full experience with lunch showcasing the truffles that were hunted fresh. Perhaps next time!

With that in mind, do remember to book early! The hunts are extremely popular and can sell out quickly. We got our tickets via Klook and had a good deal with credit card vouchers applied, so remember to check the available promotions before booking!

Link to Margaret River Truffle Hunt Tickets

Would We Recommend?

Absolutely Yes! The Margaret River Truffle Hunt is more than an indulgent excursion into luxury food culture, it is truly a unique opportunity to witness and learn about truffle farming and hunting. Everything here at Margaret River Truffle Farm is based on clean farming philosophy and it is clear that the family is dedicated and love their jobs and their dogs (:

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