Winter wonderland for foodies at Truffle Kerfuffle | Photos

Crisp, winter air greeted more than 4,800 food lovers as they headed to the 11th Truffle Kerfuffle festival in WA’s Southern Forests region over the weekend.

READ MORE: Seize the day (and the mud) to soak up the best of Manjimup

Held at the picturesque Fonty’s Pool in Manjimup, the festival celebrates the region’s famed black truffles and quality, locally grown produce.

More than 900 guests enjoyed decadent truffle-laden dishes in the Truffle Kerfuffle Festival Restaurant, 240 people gathered around the kitchen bench in the Chefs Cabin, 290 people sipped and swirled local drops in Wine Masterclasses and over 260 people followed clever canines out on truffle hunts.

Jeremy Biessel, chairman of Truffle Kerfuffle Inc. and owner of Fonty’s Pool, said he was “beyond thrilled” to deliver the event after Covid-19 forced last year’s festival to be cancelled.

“It’s always hugely rewarding to see Truffle Kerfuffle come to life and see and hear the flow on benefits it has for the community and local businesses,” he said.

“Truffle Kerfuffle is a celebration of our truffle industry and all the amazing agricultural products grown in the Southern Forests and Valleys. It shines a bright light on our fantastic community.”

Once inside the gates, festival goers took in free cooking demonstrations on stage hosted by chef Tony Howell along with Melissa Palinkas, Samira Damirova, Paul Iskov, Amanda Yoong and others.

“Every chef who’s been on stage with me has been amazing, we’re having plenty of laughs, enjoying ourselves, and the punters have had a cracking weekend,” Tony Howell said.

“It was great to see everyone embrace the winter weather, rug up and enjoy themselves, and how can you not?”

The cold temperatures and rain added to the winter festival vibes, while festivalgoers took the opportunity to mingle with some of Australia’s top chefs, cooks and producers.

Almost breaking the festival website when tickets went on sale in April, Colin Fassnidge’s Saturday night long table dinner sold out in under two hours.

“I’ve never seen so much truffle in my life,” Fassnidge said.

“Not only did I get to use as much truffle as humanly possible, but I cooked with incredible produce from the region – parsnips, potatoes, pumpkin, pasture-raised chicken, pork, marron and more.

“I did my first truffle hunt at Australian Truffle Traders which I loved – so many truffles in the orchard, it’s like an ATM!

“In the kitchen, Supper Road and Margaret River Tafe did a stellar job – it’s not easy to feed 250 people a five course meal and those guys worked so hard, and I’ve got to acknowledge Jimmy Callaway my sous chef too.”

More than 50 kilograms of Manjimup truffles were consumed over the weekend with approximately 30kgs served to more than 1,140 people at long table dining events.

Analiese Gregory and Melissa Palinkas welcomed guests to the opening event on Friday night, a five course truffle-laden dinner.

“Returning to the truffle kerfuffle felt fun, wintry and cosy,” said Tasmania-based Gregory.

“This year I really enjoyed the chefs demo experience where a young boy gave me Lilly Pillies he had foraged for me.

“Cooking for the opening night with Melissa was a highlight too and of course using copious amounts of truffle and trying out new flavour combinations like seaweed and truffle for the first time.”

Palinkas said it was a privilege to be part of the festival.

“To cook with other talents from across Australia and of course show case our world class truffles over what I think is such a special weekend for WA people in such a unique place,” she said.

Saturday saw Fervor chef Paul ‘Yoda’ Iskov host a brunch showcasing native ingredients including smoked emu egg, kangaroo tail and sea celery in his creative truffle menu.

Another brunch on Sunday morning gave Adelaide’s Jake Kellie a chance to dive deep into the truffle theme.

“I’ve been using Manjimup Truffles for seven years, David Coomer’s truffles, and it was great to meet him finally,” Kellie said.

“The winter weather at Truffle Kerfuffle is perfect for cooking on fire – my favourite way to cook.

“I’ve never had a cheering rock star reception like I got at Truffle Kerfuffle, it was so fun and really humbling.

“I loved using the region’s produce – even things like tamarillos which I hadn’t heard of before coming to Manjimup.”