We’ve just returned from the UK, where we spent the weekend co-hosting a new truffle event with Ben Sweet. Ben is an avid forager, the founder of the UK Truffle Festival and a certified dog trainer. While my family and I have trained dozens of truffle dogs over the years, none of us come from a formal dog training background, so it’s always valuable to work alongside someone with Ben’s professional expertise.
Ben and I had hunted together in the 2022 and 2023 white truffle seasons. In 2024, we decided to join forces in another capacity and came up with the idea of the Truffle Discovery Day. We wanted to create an event which would combine our experience—his in dog training, ours in truffle hunting – to help newcomers get involved in the world of truffles. Truffle hunting has a long but often overlooked history in the UK. Although there are several active truffle companies, until recently, the industry as a whole has been fairly covert.
This secretive nature of truffle hunting makes sense. Truffles thrive in delicate ecosystems and too much human interference can do real harm. Hunters will keep their spots to themselves not just to protect their own interests, but to protect the ecosystem. Still, interest in truffles is growing. Plantations are appearing across the UK, more people are catching the bug. This shift is inevitable and we’ve seen in other countries what happens when there’s no guidance: damage to habitats, conflicts among hunters, even poisoned dogs—as we saw with 30 deaths last autumn in Abruzzo. We can’t stop the spread of interest, but we can fill the space with good information, sound practice and clear warnings about what happens when things go wrong.
We can’t put the lid back on Pandora’s box, but we can help shape what comes next. That’s why we launched the Truffle Discovery Days to open the world of UK truffles to beginners in a way that’s grounded, responsible and great fun.
These events are designed for anyone curious about truffles—whether you’re hoping to train your dog to find them, or you’ve heard that they grow in the UK and want to know more.
Each day is packed with practical information, amazing food and truffle hunting secrets. We talk about UK truffle species, where they grow, how to recognise the right conditions and of course—how to get started with a truffle dog. We’re keeping these events small on purpose. We want people to ask questions, share ideas and leave feeling they’ve stepped into a world they had no idea existed.
This year we’re running two events (beginners and intermediate) in the south of England and, for the first time, two in the north (Haxey Carr in Lincolnshire). Chef and truffle hunter Nina Roe is preparing this summer’s black truffle menu. Come for the day or stay for both events. We’ll be camping in Haxey, so it will be a full-on truffle weekend. Bring your dog or just yourself and you’ll come away with all the tools to get started.
Hope to see you there!
