Truffle hunting is one of the family-friendly outdoor activities being offered as part of the Fungi Feastival. Photo: Gulaga Gold.
The Fungi Feastival has a fabulous collection of paddock to plate-themed events.
Workshops on how to grow mushrooms and truffles, family-friendly truffle hunts, lessons on how to cook fungi at home, and so many delicious fungi lunches and dinners are on offer. From fine dining to budget-friendly options at pubs, cafes and bakeries, there is something for everyone who enjoys eating fungi when it is at its very best in winter.
Alex Chiswell of Forest Door helps run a market garden in Moruya. Five years after starting, he now supplies mushrooms to Boneless Vegetarian Cafe in Bermagui and JJs in Batemans Bay, along with Southland Fruit and Vegetable and SAGE Farmers Market in Moruya. His mushrooms are also distributed to Canberra and surrounds through a Bungendore business.
Alex has a background in horticulture and early on his interest was on food production rather than horticulture’s ornamental aspects.
“I had always been interested in mushrooms and how weird they are and the symbiotic relationships they have,” Alex says.
His staple mushroom is the fan-shaped oyster. They are easy to grow and only need a pasteurised substrate, whereas many other culinary mushrooms need a sterile environment with no contaminants.
In response to demand from chefs, he is trialling other varieties, notably chestnut, shiitake, and pioppino mushrooms.
“I think chefs are a bit more familiar with them and compared with oyster mushrooms, they are more traditional looking with a stem and cap,” Alex says.
These mushrooms have much shorter shelf lives than those in big supermarkets and do not hold up well to supermarkets’ long supply chains so they are only found at farmers’ markets.
When Alex began, he used grain spawn from Little Acre Mushrooms in Brisbane but now produces and sells his own grain spawn, along with grow bags.
Learning how to grow mushrooms at a workshop by Little Acre Mushrooms, one of the many events scheduled as part of the Fungi Feastival. Photo: Supplied.
Little Acre Mushrooms and Fungi Co. will be running Grow Your Own workshops as part of the Fungi Feastival.
Gulaga Gold’s Fiona Kotvojs and Alan Burdon will be running a workshop on growing truffles in Cobargo.
While growing the culinary treasures is more long-term than growing mushrooms, Fiona is keen for other locals to join them growing truffles as there is a big and growing market. Truffle growing is also a valuable income stream for farmers during drought years.
Fiona knows that from experience. They have been growing truffles for 13 years on the family cattle farm in Dignams Creek.
“We have certainly recovered our investment, and it is doing far better than cattle per hectare and per hour input,” she says.
Australia is the world’s fourth largest truffle producer and Fiona says Gulaga Gold truffles are regarded highly for their quality, and rich, long-lasting flavour.
“There is more demand than we can supply, so I would like to see more people growing them locally,” she says.
Gulaga Gold sells truffles across the Eurobodalla and Bega Valley shires, to restaurants and individuals. It also sells to a Melbourne wholesaler and exports to the US.
Fiona says one reason demand is so high is that Australian truffles ripen during the Northern Hemisphere’s off-season.
There is also a large market in Singapore and South East Asia which she has not yet explored, as well as growing awareness of how truffles can be used to enhance flavour.
People can learn more about truffles at one of Gulaga Gold’s weekly truffle hunts, dig up truffles that are located by professional truffle hunting dogs, and enjoy truffle tastings.
Swordfish and white wine truffle infused sauce as prepared by Mimosa Restaurant, Murrah, south of Bermagui. Photo: Supplied.
Given Boneless Cafe’s focus on local seasonal produce, mushrooms are not always on the menu, but they will be during the winter months.
Boneless chef Rhiannon Simmonds says they work a lot with local growers and work their menus around what is being grown locally.
The mushrooms on Boneless’ menu are mostly sourced locally, although some come from Victoria.
“We are surrounded by so many amazing mushroom growers and have access to this wonderful range of mushrooms which is really special,” she says.
Rhiannon is particularly delighted she can get fresh shiitake mushrooms. Usually, they are only available dried.
Boneless is preparing a three-course Japanese ramen noodle dinner for the Fungi Feastival.
“It is something we have wanted to do for a long time so we are so excited it is showcasing mushrooms,” Rhiannon says. “The Fungi Feastival really gives local businesses and chefs an opportunity to be creative with these nights. It feels really special to be giving something that everyone gets to enjoy.”
More than 10 venues will have fungi on their menu every day and people can create their own culinary trail along the coast via the Fungi Feastival website. The Fungi Feastival runs from 20 June to 20 July.
