I used to think truffles were candies. Really delicious ones, discovered in foreign countries in chocolate shops where I’d have moved instantly if I could!
I only found out that truffles are also mushrooms after I ate them, amazed by a taste I’d never experienced before.
Fresh truffle pasta, truffle cream pasta, truffle risotto, truffle butter on toast, truffle cream on crackers – oh my… my mouth is watering just remembering them! And, of course, I took pictures so I wouldn’t forget:
In Italy I ate truffles the most, and I must admit, I was shocked to find fresh truffles… guess where… at Obor Market in Bucharest! What??
That’s how this country girl found out that truffles also grow on Romanian soil. Well, I paid 50 lei for a truffle the size of a marble… It was the biggest investment I ever made in something so small, and I still had to cook it 🙂
ABOUT TRUFFLES
The ones I’ve most often come across in restaurants and shops are summer black truffles. But I found out there are many varieties of truffles – 18 or maybe even more! Still, 4 of them are better known:
- White truffle, which you can find from around September 10 to the end of the year.
- Precious black (that’s exactly how Google Translate rendered it from Italian), found between December and February.
- Marzuolo, which, depending on the weather, is hunted from January through March-April.
- And the summer black, which is hunted between April and September. That’s the one I told you about earlier…
Summer black truffles cost around 400 euros per kilogram, while white truffles cost… brace yourselves… around 3,500 euros per kilogram!!! So you have a choice: a kilo of white truffles or a car.
The huge cost of the white truffle comes from its more intense, lingering flavor compared to the others, and therefore it’s more appreciated. Also, very importantly: it’s rare! It requires special soil, rainfall, etc.
About 2-3 years ago, at the Mercato Centrale in Florence, I almost felt like I needed a ticket – it was like a truffle exhibition right in front of me. In every possible form. There was even one shaped like… a rock, because those people had tried to recreate a giant white truffle that had been sold years earlier at a charity auction. The price? 330,000 dollars!!! It’s already in the Guinness Book of Records!
TRUFFLE HUNTING
Last year, during a filming project in Transylvania, I had the chance to go on a mini truffle hunt. That’s when I learned a few more things beyond what I’d quickly read online. But most of the information I’ve gathered now, during a truffle hunt in Tuscany, where I took part as a very eager tourist.
I took the regional train from Florence and, after 40 minutes plus another 15 by car, on an off-road ride that shook every internal organ, I arrived at Il Poggio alle Ville.
A “farm stay” with everything you need for a super peaceful vacation, far from the hustle and bustle of touristy cities. They even have a small chapel, which I thought was really cool!
It’s a chilly late October morning. I enter the old building that serves as the dining room – a tall building filled with vintage kitchen tools from grandma’s days, olive oil pressing machines worthy of a museum, photos, old maps, and so much more.
A woman lights the fire in the fireplace. Then she gets to work making pasta, so that after the hunt, the hungry tourists can enjoy freshly cooked food!
I’m picked up, along with a small group of Germans, by the owner himself, Raffaele. I had an “in”, since Raffaele is the husband of my former college classmate, Ioana, who got me into the truffle hunting crew on short notice.
I had wanted to take part for a long time, especially since I knew truffle hunting can be done all year round, as there are different varieties that appear in different seasons. I just never managed to catch the right moment.
Also, you can’t just show up whenever you feel like it. For the harvest to be good, the weather has to help – a balance of rain and sunny days. If there’s too much water, the truffles rot underground; if there’s too much drought, they’re scarce and dry. Apparently, that’s the situation this year. Unlike 2017, which I hear was a truly exceptional year for truffles.
People like me, who showed up in summer shoes, are given some lovely rubber boots. At least they gave me the freedom to wander through leaves and dry branches without worry.
We’re introduced to the dogs we’ll be hunting with: the first is Leo, the owner’s dog, a 2-and-a-half-year-old Lagotto Romagnolo, currently in training for truffle hunting.
The second dog, brought by his owner, is named Scimmia and is a riccia sanminiatese (a breed typical of the San Miniato area in Pisa – also rich in truffles).
I wonder… could our local street dogs become truffle hunters? That would be something…
In theory, any dog can be trained to find truffles, I’m told. However, there are breeds that are easier to train for this task. Like the ones of the two dogs we’re hunting with today.
I learn some surprising stories: apparently, there are people who start training dogs right from birth. They rub truffle butter on the nipples of nursing females, so the puppies associate the smell and taste with feeding from a very early age – and later on, it’s easier for them to recognize it. Wild, right?
Alright then! Off we go on our truffle hunt!!! Yuhuuu!!!
I’m so excited, you’d think I’m the one going to dig for them in the trees, not the dogs!
I just hope we don’t come face to face with a wild boar, because boars are the best truffle hunters. And eaters…
For wild boars, truffle hunting is a necessity – they do it to feed themselves. For dogs, it’s more like a game. A race in which they’re rewarded with biscuits by their owner. The special pouch on the owner’s outfit is like a magical spot the dog always returns to after finding a truffle.
But things aren’t that simple. In my mind, I thought you’d train a dog, he goes, finds the truffle, and brings it back like in a game of fetch. But no. The dog’s handler has to always keep a close eye on the dog. As soon as the dog finds a truffle, the handler needs to stop him from digging too much with his paws, or even eating it, because, believe it or not, dogs like truffles too.
Thus, the moment a dog shows signs of having found a truffle, scratching at the ground with its paws, the handler stops it, goes to that spot, and starts digging very carefully, using a special little spade.
Even the human has to be careful how they dig, so they don’t ruin the truffle. A partially damaged truffle – by the dog or by the tool – loses a lot of its market value!
A truffle is like an iceberg, Raffaele tells us. You see the tip, but you don’t know what’s underneath, so you have to be careful not to destroy it.
I watch the dogs searching, sniffing not just around the tree trunks, but farther out, and that confuses me. I learn that truffles grow around tree roots, not just at the base of the trunk like I thought. So if the roots spread far, truffles can grow there too, farther from the tree.
You’ll probably say I’m crazy, but I really want to find a truffle all by myself. Is it that hard??? I search around the base of the trees, nothing. I see some roots, I go there too. Still nothing.
Well, there was something, but honestly, I wouldn’t have found it. Leo came over and immediately smelled that a truffle was hidden there!
A white one!
So I wouldn’t feel like a total failure at this truffle business, Raffaele tells me that dogs’ sense of smell is 500 times stronger than ours! So maybe I shouldn’t get my hopes up about finding one myself. Though, ironically, he once found one on his own, without a dog. It had popped out of the ground, and he spotted it right away. (Black truffles grow just under the topsoil, unlike the others.)
After the truffle is carefully taken out, the person always covers the hole again, as if hiding treasure… and in a way, it really is. It’s good not to leave clues for other truffle hunters, but more importantly, to prevent the soil around the tree roots – areas that have been specially prepared (inoculated) with bacterial spores – from drying out. Don’t ask me for details, I’m no expert, but I got the idea: this can help with the growth of black truffles. Unfortunately, not with white ones. That’s why they’re so valuable, because they grow wherever and whenever they feel like it…
“Dove?”, “Cerca!”, “Dai!” – I hear the hunters calling out. There’s a certain language the handlers use to encourage their dogs to search and to keep communicating throughout the hunt. Everyone has their own way, from “search!” to “come on, tell me where, where?” – hence Romanian Pepe’s hit song too 🙂
The two dogs run back and forth, searching, sniffing, finding something (or not), then running, searching, and sniffing again. Always guided from a distance by their handlers.
A truffle hunt can last an hour, an hour and a half. That’s if you don’t happen to have a battery-powered dog that can keep going longer.
During the hunt, there are short breaks for the dog, when the handler gives it some treats or pets it a little, like “who’s a good boy” type stuff.
There are certain trees near which truffles grow: poplar, oak, linden, hazelnut, ash, and also around maritime pines – where truffles tend to grow bigger, but have less flavor.
I’m curious which region in Italy is the most famous for truffles. I’m telling you, but please don’t go storming the place and leave me truffle-less!
It’s the area around the town of Alba, in Piedmont (between Turin and Genoa).
Not important right now – we’re in Tuscany and there are plenty of truffles here too, so I’m not worried. Especially since we’re on private land.
Actually, truffle hunts can take place both on private and public land, the important thing is to know the terrain well and not cross into areas where you don’t belong. Though unfortunately, some people still do.
“Humans” are among the top 3 enemies of truffles, the hunters tell us.
The first enemy is the wild boar, for reasons already explained above.
Next comes the human. I guess you could call that “poaching”, I suppose.
And in third place, still on the podium, are mice. After finding a truffle and nibbling on it, they move underground, digging a tunnel. The dog smells the truffle where the mouse emerged, but in reality, the truffle is somewhere else… And so the dog is misled. Meanwhile, you’re just standing there like a fool, dreaming about the truffle that’ll get you into the Guinness Book of Records.
After an hour, we head back home with the day’s “catch”. We watched the truffle hunt, smelled them (still covered in dirt), found both white and black ones (even though black truffle season is pretty much over), and now we’re following the two owners and their dogs back “home”.
Today’s haul: 71 grams in total, a mix of white and black truffles.
LUNCH WITH TRUFFLES
From the shelves at the agritourism place, you’re tempted by truffle products made right there “on the farm”, which is a big deal! Truffle paste, whole truffles, truffle oil, white truffle butter. I feel like buying everything!
The Germans and I are waiting outside while lunch is being prepared.
We exchange a few words. Me – frustrated that all I remember from German is Ich liebe dich and a couple of lines from the Lorelei poem… Them – curious about Romania and our fate, about which, to be honest, I can’t say much even in Romanian 🙂
We stroll among the olive trees that are soon to be harvested, enjoying a peacefulness we’ll surely miss once we’re back in the city and… “a tavola!!!” shout the Italian ladies who’ve just finished preparing our delicious meal.
Truffles in just about everything, except the Tiramisu, of course…
And fresh truffle, generously left on the table for anyone who wants to grate some more over their pasta. Me, obviously. Especially since I’ve been acted like I knew all about the truffle grater – I bought one a few years ago. Which I’ve now managed to cut myself with success haha.
I fill up my stomach, then my backpack with delicious goodies, and dash off to the station to catch the regional train to Florence.
Next time I’m in the area, I’m signing up for a tasting. Not of wine, no, but of olive oil, because that sounds interesting! And at least I know I’ll be able to talk about it without being tipsy…
