FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Oregon Truffle Festival

Tuesday, October 08, 2013

The Truffle Growers’ Forum and Truffle Dog Training Seminar take place Jan. 24-26, 2014 at the Hilton Eugene & Conference Center

Two Hands of Oregon Truffles Photo: Maralyn D. Hill

EUGENE, Ore. — Today, officials for the ninth annual Oregon Truffle Festival announced that the event’s annual Truffle Growers’ Forum will celebrate the recent first harvests of the renowned French black truffle in both Oregon and British Columbia, and the first harvest of the Burgundy truffle in North America on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, all from trees inoculated by Dr. Charles Lefevre. The 2014 Forum features international speakers Dr. Giovanni Pacioni, among Italy’s preeminent truffle cultivation researchers, and Dr. Christina Weden who has pioneered the harvest and cultivation of truffles in Northern Europe, in addition to other notables in the field.  The Oregon Truffle Festival takes place Jan. 24-26, 2014 in Eugene.

Dr. Pacioni, a senior Professor of mycology at University of L’Aquila, Italy, and author of nearly 200 research papers and patents, will speak on a pioneering new technology using ground penetrating radar to visualize the initial stages of truffle development in the soil, enabling researchers for the first time to study the link between weather changes and truffle productivity.  The far-reaching implications of this innovation are already beginning to stimulate a broad re-thinking of how truffles are cultivated in orchards of artificially inoculated trees.

French Black Truffle from Oregon Photo: Maralyn D. Hill

Dr. Weden, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Pharmacognosy, Uppsala University, Sweden, and the president of the company Tryffikultur AB, is pioneering the development of truffle cultivation in Northern Europe.  By documenting the presence of Burgundy truffles in Sweden through her doctoral research, she single-handedly created Sweden’s truffle harvest industry.  She has gone on to introduce the successful cultivation of Burgundy truffles on the Island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, and earlier this year one of her orchards produced French black truffles, nearly 600 miles further north than any other producing orchard.

Additional event presenters include Dr. Randy Molina, Editor of the technical journal Mycorrhiza, Dr. Shannon Berch, Canada’s preeminent expert in truffle cultivation, and Dr. Charles Lefevre, co-founder of the Oregon Truffle Festival and owner of New World Truffieres, Inc., North America’s preeminent truffle cultivation company. For more information on event speakers and presenters, visit the Oregon Truffle Festival website.

Saturday’s events are in the field, touring an established truffiere planted with trees inoculated with the French black truffles, as well as a truffle hunt with truffle dogs for the native Oregon white truffles. Breakfast and a festive winemaker’s luncheon with a guest chef are included on Saturday.

“The annual Truffle Growers’ Forum is a tremendously popular and celebrated event each year,” said Dr. Charles Lefevre, mycologist and co-founder of the Oregon Truffle Festival. “It’s a ground breaking way for us to continue teaching and learning about these culinary treasures that can be grown throughout much of North America. The Oregon truffle industry continues to deliver some of the world’s best truffles, and is growing in national and international recognition.”

OT DogTruffle_Festival Photo: Maralyn D. Hill

Truffles, a hidden food delicacy, are traditionally harvested by trained pigs and dogs. The Festival’s educational seminars also include the two-dayTruffle Dog Training Seminar, in which attendees introduce their dogs to the aroma of truffles on the first day and give dogs the authentic experience of hunting Oregon’s native truffles in the wild on the second. As this industry flourishes, the Oregon Truffle Festival’s educational seminars fill an essential need for American truffle growers.  The festival’s three expert trainers provide an unparalleled training opportunity found nowhere else in North America.

Registration is now open for Oregon Truffle Festival weekend experiences and the Grand Truffle Dinner. Four weekend and several stand-alone options are available, including cooking classes, winery luncheons, truffle forays, farm tours, and multi-course truffle dinners, in addition to the educational seminars. All options may be purchased online at http://www.oregontrufflefestival.com.

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Maralyn D. Hill, M.Ed.,  The Epicurean Explorer

Executive Editor, LuxeBeatMag.com

Freelance Lifestyle Journalist

International Food Wine & Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA)

Board Member, Co-Chair Conference & Media Trip Committee, Past President

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