slides: 10 Things You May Not Know About Oregon Truffles

Friday, November 14, 2014

Kirsten Nicolaisen, GoLocalPDX Digital Producer

Photo courtesy of Oregon Truffle Festival

Eugene's Tenth Annual Truffle Festival is set to kick off in January, and this year the truffle-centric events are coming to Portland too.

The festival founded in 2006, is now known as North America's "premier event for truffle culinary appreciation and education."

At Eugene's Truffle Fest (now to be confused with Astoria's "truffle shuffle") attendees will have a chance to train their dogs to recognize the scent of Oregon truffles, attend a semi-formal dinner featuring Oregon's native winter white and black truffles, taste fresh truffles and truffle-infused artisan foods with wine pairings at the Oregon Truffle Marketplace, and more.

See Slideshow Below: 10 Things You May Not Know About Truffles

The Portland arm of the festival runs Jan. 15 - 18, and kicks off with an evening of truffle dinners by Portland top chefs including Jason French at Elder Hall, Vitaly Paley at Imperial, and Sarah Schafer at Irving Street Kitchen. The Eugene festival runs Jan. 23 - 25.

Tickets are going fast so be sure to to get yours before the end of the year.

To learn more about the Oregon Truffle Festival, visit the website here. Want to learn more about Oregon truffles? See slides below.

Banner Photo Credit: Oregon Truffle Festival

Related Slideshow: 10 Things You May Not Know About Truffles

The annual Oregon Truffle Festival is set to kick off in January in Portland and Eugene. But before attending the festival, here are 10 things you may not know about truffles. (All photos were provided by the Oregon Truffle Festival).

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Truffles Priced 1,000 +

Prices in the U.S. for the French black truffle and Italian white truffle have reached up to $1,200 per pound.

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Not All Are That Good

There are at least 1,000 truffle species in North America. All are thought to be edible, but only a few have real culinary value.

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Best in the West

Oregon has the four most famous “culinary” truffle species in North America.

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Where Else Are They?

There are currently three other “culinary” truffle species found elsewhere in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

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European Truffles Here

There are at least 20 farms in North America that are beginning to produce European truffles.

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Growing in the Northwest

In the Pacific Northwest, farms are producing Perigord, Burgundy, and bianchetto truffles in orchards of inoculated trees.

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Success in the West

Seven orchards of inoculated truffle trees in the Pacific Northwest have successfully produced European truffles.

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Wine Country Truffles

Yamhill Valley wine country has one of the largest concentrations of productive truffle patches in Oregon.

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Oregon Soil

The Oregon Truffle Festival will be holding North America’s first truffle dog championship, named “The Joriad.” The event is named after Oregon’s state soil, Jory soil, which is prime for truffle growing.

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Oregon Leads the Way

In early 2013, the famous black truffle of Southern Europe, aka the Perigord truffle, was harvested for the first time in Oregon in an orchard of hazelnut trees.