Tickets are on sale with some events almost sold out to Australia’s most decadent winter festival, Truffle Kerfuffle held at Fonty’s Pool in Manjimup from 28 to 30 June 2024.
This year’s Truffle Kerfuffle lineup includes celebrity chefs Gary Mehigan and Christine Manfield, with some of WA’s best namely Amy Hamilton (Liberté, Albany), Paul Iskov (Fervor), Evan Hayter (de’scendent, Margaret River), and Brian Cole (Ritz Carlton, Perth).
Prepared by the culinary heavy hitters with the support of a team of award-winning mobile caterers, Supper Road, guests will be treated to delicious dishes that star Southern Forests produce and hero plenty of freshly unearthed Manjimup black truffle.
The Truffle Kerfuffle Restaurant, hosted by award-winning wine journalist, travel and food writer and television presenter Cassandra Charlick, features two candle lit dinners with two experienced chefs making their Truffle Kerfuffle debut, Gary Mehigan and Christine Manfield. Mention the name Christine Manfield and chefs stop and pay attention. The credentialled chef will meld her decades of experience into an evening feast at ‘East Meets West’ on Saturday evening, 29 June.
Ms Manfield said guests can expect, “a feast of flavour intertwining black truffles with some of our native ingredients underpinned with my signature use of spice; food that speaks of the region.”
Mr Mehigan said it’s crazy to think he’s never been to Manjimup. “Obviously, I’ve been to Western Australia and to Margaret River plenty of times, but Manjimup is in that little zone inland that I’ve missed you know, I’ve been waiting for an invitation to come to Truffle Kerfuffle for a few years,”.
With the winter sun streaming through the clear-roofed marquee, the Truffle Kerfuffle Restaurant will host Saturday Brunch, ‘Speaking Local’, named by chef and owner of revered Albany restaurant and bar Liberté, Amy Hamiliton. Ms Hamilton only speaks local when it comes to her culinary literature and her love for the region, its produce and its truffles will be evident at her four-course brunch which includes Vietnamese dumplings and flowing sparkling wine.
On Sunday, ‘A Place, a Taste and a Story’ brunch by native food specialist chef, Fervor’s Paul Iskov, who will take taste buds on a journey that ends with a new-found appreciation of authentic modern Australian cuisine. Prior to establishing his remote pop up degustation dining restaurant Fervor, Mr Iskov gained experience in the best kitchens around the world including Noma (Copenhagen), Vue De Monde (Melbourne), Marque (Sydney), D.O.M (São Paolo), COI (San Francisco) and Pujol (Mexico City) many of which have featured in the San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants. To watch and learn how the chefs create incredible dishes, gather around the kitchen bench at the intimate masterclasses at the Chef’s Cabin.
Discover new techniques, flavour combinations and kitchen secrets at the Chef’s Cabin with Evan Hayter, co-owner of Margaret River fine diner de’scendent and formerly of Arima Winery, or Brian Cole, sous chef at Hearth at the Ritz Carlton Perth and WA’s young chef of the year.
Christine Manfield, Gary Mehigan and Paul Iskov will also hold Chef’s Cabin sessions, all of which are hosted by Gourmet Traveller’s Max Veenhuyzen, who will keep the conversation flowing, along with the wine, as you sample the dishes demonstrated.
Make it a weekend getaway and eliminate the need for transport or choosing a skipper. There is a handful of accommodation and ticket packages left that include luxury camping and glamping options, as well as caravan and motorhome options, at Fonty’s Pool, the Truffle Kerfuffle festival site.
From the ground up, the intoxicating aroma of fresh truffle hits as soon as you walk into the Truffle Kerfuffle Marketplace at the Festival Village. Undercover and protected from the weather, the Marketplace is where you chat to farmers and producers, taste products from artisans and try local beers and wine, as well as treating yourself to hot dishes for lunch and truffles to take home at great prices.
The Festival Village Main Stage marquee will be programmed all weekend with cooking demonstrations from visiting chefs and culinary personalities, hosted by the affable chef Tony Howell.
Settle into the afternoon at the Festival Village Bar, toe-tapping to live music at a genuine country festival, where locals and visitors mingle together with farmers, chefs, foodies and those who enjoy being around like-minded people.
Just three weeks away is a weekend of candlelit long table feasts, indulgent dishes with generous amounts of freshly harvested black truffle, intimate fireside cooking masterclasses, truffle dog demonstrations, and truffle hunts in orchards. Manjimup is the most prolific truffle growing region in the Southern Hemisphere, which is celebrated annually at Truffle Kerfuffle. The ‘black gold’ from the region is sought-after by chefs across the globe for its consistent high quality, impossible-to-describe taste and heady, earthy aroma.
Truffle Kerfuffle
28-30 June 2024
Fonty’s Pool, Manjimup, Western Australia
