Our 2024 Hunt Season is now finished, but we hope to see you next year from June 2025!
During the season, we conduct truffle hunts for the public on Sundays at 10.00am sharp, subject to climate and evidence of truffle fruiting. Hunts will include the harvest with dogs, industry information, tastings and the opportunity to buy fresh truffle and truffle products.
The harvest dogs, contracted by BlueFrog Truffles, are owned by Gillian Cummins, of Crookwell, NSW. Please note that we cannot allow hunt participants to bring their own dogs to the hunt.
Please abide by any Government COVID restrictions imposed and respect the safety of us and other Trufflers at the hunt. If you are unable to attend due to COVID restrictions, we will be happy to refund your payment in full.
Something More?
If you’d like to continue your truffle experience after the hunt and tasting, we can recommend a couple of alternative experiences close by. The hunt usually finishes around 12 noon, and please mention you were on a hunt at Blue Frog Truffles!
Contentious Character winery and restaurant can offer lunch (a special truffle dish and a glass of wine), please book directly with them – they are a 15 minute drive away.
For the Chefs
We always welcome local chefs and their staff to contact us to arrange a free visit and learn about this new and emerging local industry and the subtleties of growing, harvesting and grading truffles.
What happens on the hunt?
We get asked this a lot, so hopefully the following information will provide all you need to know! We cant allow other dogs at the hunts and children 10 years old and under are free at the Sunday hunts, but must be accompanied by an adult.
The hunt takes about one hour in the field and provides information about growing and harvesting truffles as we walk through the truffiere. The dog handler will explain the management of the dogs and we follow the trained truffle dog hunting down the truffle aroma and marking the spot with its paw. You will see the truffles located and carefully dug from the ground to avoid any damage. Truffles are hard to find without a trained dog and still requires quite a lot of careful digging once the dog has indicated its presence. Truffles in Europe grow in the wild and the spore is spread by animals eating the truffle and passing the truffle spore in their scat, which ultimately infects other trees. Our truffles are cultivated from nursery infected trees, but we do still have some native and feral animals in Australia that like to dig them up and eat them. Truffles fruit every year and are assessed for ripeness by aroma, unlike above ground mushrooms, where you can see if they are ripe and easily pick a full basket.
Wear warm clothing and stout shoes, as the site is exposed and the grass in the truffiere may be wet. You will also be asked to disinfect your footwear by stepping on a wet pad containing a chlorine based bleach, as a biosecurity measure, to prevent the introduction of contaminating fungi to the truffiere.
After the hunt we move to a covered area to see the cleaning and grading process and talk about the industry in Australia. We will serve a warm cup of tasty truffle soup with some other simple tastings of things truffled. It is not a meal, but a chance to see the processes involved in preparing truffles for market, to get some idea of truffle taste, aroma and some ideas for use of truffle in your own cooking. This usually takes about one hour. If you wish, you can buy truffle after the hunt – depending on what is harvested that day and what orders we have outstanding. It is an informative and enjoyable day from 10.00 am to 12 noon.
What happens if the weather is bad?
We need to harvest the truffle, no matter what the weather is like, so be sure and dress appropriately for the weather on the day as we will go out regardless!
Where is the hunt on?
We’re located at 63 Goolabri Drive in Sutton NSW.