Mundaring Truffle Festival

   We're heading for the hills...and the Mundaring Truffle Festival.  Not that we are connoisseurs of this fabled epicurean delight but curious and encouraged by its accessibility this weekend.  It's a gorgeous day for a drive and they are giving away lots of freebies.

Le Truffle

  A lot of noise is made over this rather humble looking fungus that smells very earthy with a splash of bleach and a hint of nut.  Yeah, hard to describe the not unpleasant smell or taste but once you know it, it is easily identifiable.  Quickly overwhelmed by odoriferous and highly acidic ingredients, this gives great lift to mild foods: butter, cheese, oil, desserts, popcorn, pates, pastas, beef, pork and the like.


  Not cheap. Truffle costs $1700 a kilo ($772 a pound) which explains why so many people crowded the fairly small outdoor venue. In church this very morning, the word from the pulpit was "something for nothing excites greed like few things can." Truer words, my friends. Yes, we paid $10 admission but some people had grown fangs. The jostling could sometimes be disturbing, so we steered clear of areas until the mob had cleared. The entertainment was homegrown and pleasant.  The kids area had kiddies digging for potatoes, pressing pasta and munching on apples--a welcome change to the usual bouncey castle and face painting found at such gatherings.  Demonstrations by truffle sniffing dogs  were popular as were cooking demos (with their free tastings). Chittering Valley had their wine festival on site, very coincidentally, and did quite well in terms of foot traffic. It cost extra to get in (Kev found a red wristband on the ground, so I got in for free sorry organizers) but the very small wine area that is Chittering enjoyed much popularity and perhaps an improved prestige.
 
   We now find ourselves more knowledgeable about truffles but no chance of making anything with it. There must be $400 worth of truffle in the hands on the right. (Can we plant a few  of the right trees in our yard to finance our retirement?) We did clean up on some interesting truffle  and nontruffle products as  many vendors were keen to offload their goods at days end. I like a bargain! And for one pleasant afternoon, I like truffles.