Earthly delights

THE YOUNGEST OF THE PACK has picked up the scent. Stopping suddenly, she lowers her nose to the ground to trace the pungent aroma, and when she finds what she’s looking for she paws at the soft earth.

“Good girl!” cries Mel Booth, encouragingly. Gunnah the labrador is training to become a truffle hunting dog, just like the other premium hunting dogs at Australian Truffle Traders. “She’s recognised and followed a scent cone on the breeze, which is exactly what we’re after,” Booth explains.

Deciding to put down roots of their own in Manjimup after the first truffle was found here in 2003, Mel and husband Gavin are now two of the country’s most experienced producers of the prized Australian black truffle (known also as the Perigord truffle in France) with their premium-grade produce sought-after by Michelin-starred chefs and restaurants around the world.

“It’s the combination of very fertile soils and the right weather conditions that make this area special,”