Stellar event line-up for this year's Canberra & Capital Region Truffle Festival

Antonio Carluccio, patron of the Canberra & Capital Region Truffle Festival in 2014 (photo courtesy Mr Carluccio and the Truffle Festival)

International celebrity chef Antonio Carluccio has been hunting and collecting truffles, mushrooms and other fungi for most of his life. From the age of seven, Antonio would forage with his father in the woodlands of Piedmont in the north-west of Italy. 
After living in Vienna and Germany, Antonio moved to London in 1975 and traded as a merchant of Italian wines whilst learning English. His love of foraging and studying wild mushrooms continued to grow as he found many varieties growing in the English countryside, close to London, almost completely undiscovered. As the Patron of this year’s Canberra & Capital Region Truffle Festival, Antonio will travel from London to Australia to enjoy the high quality Black Perigord truffle that is grown in the Canberra region. He will be involved in a number of events, visiting our local markets, doing cooking demonstrations and a book signing. To say that I'm excited to share this news with you is an understatement!

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Now if that's not enough to whet your appetite, there is more. This year’s Canberra & Capital Region Truffle Festival will be launched in style with a rustic French long-lunch prepared and served by Mindy Woods (MasterChef finalist 2012), Celebrity Chef Tom Walton (from Ready Steady Cook & Executive Chef, The Bucket List Bondi) and Canberra's own king of desserts,  John Marshall (a.k.a. Mr Frugii). 

Of course there will be truffle hunts at truffières (or truffle farms) across the region; including Mount Majura, Sutton, Braidwood, Tarago, Bungendore, Bredbo, and the Southern Highlands. Be prepared to get down on your hands and knees to learn how to tell if there's a good truffle underground!

There are cooking classes and demonstrations, truffle lunches and gourmet degustation truffle dinners, and 'hunt and cook' packages. Truffles will be available to purchase at the Capital Region Farmer's Market, Fyshwick Markets, Belconnen Markets, and you can meet the growers at the markets too.

The Festival program also features a range of Masterclasses with former MasterChef contestants, including Dani Venn, Billy Law, Amina Elshafei, Rishi Desai, Kylie Millar, Rowie Dillon, Audra Morrice, and Mindy Woods.

The Canberra & Capital Region Festival will run from 21 June 2014 until late August, when the truffles run out. Make sure you pop in to the Festival web site and sign up for newsletters so you don't miss out. You can follow the Truffle Festival on Facebook and Twitter too.

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A preview of the 2014 Canberra & Capital Region Truffle Festival...

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And yours truly enjoying a truffle hunt in 2012...

Should you be interested, you can read more about my truffle adventures here. And I've shared some delicious truffle recipes here and here.

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Tell me dear readers, have you ever been on a truffle hunt? Do you enjoy foraging for truffles? Watch this space. To celebrate the 2014 Canberra & Capital Region Truffle Festival, I have an exciting competition coming to Good Things soon!