Oregon event to celebrate hidden delicacy

EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon forests are home to a treasure for mushroom hunters in search of truffles — the fungus, not the chocolate candy.

Charles Lefevre, president of the North American Truffling Society, is hoping to raise the profile of Oregon truffles with a three-day festival next month in Eugene.

The event will bring together cultivators, foragers, chefs and gourmands from the Northwest and around the country to celebrate the earthy delicacy. Lefevre even expects a small European contingent.

"Oregon is blessed with an abundance of wild, native truffles," said Lefevre, who has a doctorate in mycology, the field of botany dealing with fungi.

Long considered a delicacy, truffles can sell for more than $1,000 per pound wholesale.

Oregon is the nation's largest source of truffles but lags behind France, Spain, Italy and other parts of Europe. Oregon's annual harvest is roughly 10 tons, compared with more than 100 tons for all of Europe.

Like mushrooms, truffles are the fruit of a fungus. They grow underground and rely on trees to host them and animals eating them to distribute their spores.

Many Oregon truffles grow near the roots of Douglas firs.

"Oregon is probably the very best of all places to try to grow truffles," said Lefevre, who also cultivates truffles on hazelnut and oak trees.

The Oregon Truffle Festival will feature workshops on truffle cultivation, truffle-dog training and truffle hunting, among other topics.

A number of local restaurants will offer truffle dinners, and there will be a grand truffle dinner featuring chefs from around the region including Philippe Boulot, executive chef of Portland's Heathman Hotel and Rocky Maselli, executive chef of Eugene's Marche restaurant.

Stephanie Pearl Kimmel, founding chef and owner of Marche, said Oregon truffles had a reputation for inconsistency in the past.

Immature truffles were sometimes harvested, and the quality varied widely. But, as foragers and chefs have become more educated and adept at choosing ripe truffles, and as the wild mushroom industry has grown, the quality of Oregon truffles has improved, she said.

"Awareness of the treasure we have has been slowly evolving," she said.