Often when I tell people that we hunt for truffles, their first question is about how we train the pigs. It seems that the use of pigs in truffle hunting is very firmly ensconced in the collective consciousness. In reality though, the vast majority of tartufai nowadays prefer to hunt with dogs.
Truffle oil is produced in laboratories. Once a popular ingredient it quickly fell from grace. Does it belong in the kitchen?
The day started at first light. Truffles have been thin on the ground until now but today there were signs that the season is picking up. In the photo above you get a close-up of a truffle which has just been exposed. This one was found at around 11am today (4th November 2019) by Giovanni and Zeppo.
Every year a handful of remarkable white truffles are found that cause a lot of fuss. Most truffle hunters will feel very lucky to find a truffle weighing over 200 grams, here we are talking about truffles around the kilo mark. These are the real prizes in the world of truffles, where the big money is so naturally all hunters dream of finding buried treasure in the form of a super-size white truffle.
One of the classic ways to use a white truffle is to add it to a finished risotto. Truffles take an already delicious dish up several notches and this may be one of the best risottos you ever taste. For such an impressive meal it is surprisingly quick and easy. Try and get hold of a quality chicken stock and you are good to go. Allow around 8 gr of white truffle per serving – more if it’s your birthday.
A good way to save white truffles is to make truffle butter… This is the real deal. Use it on steak, risottos, pasta, wherever you fancy. You can even have it on bread. There are only two rules : Don’t cook the truffle and make it part of a simple dish (no competing flavours).
Read all about the events of the 54th Truffle Festival at Acqualagna.
This recipe would serve two hungry people. It also makes a little white truffle go a long way and so is a lovely way to use truffle butter when the season has finished and fresh white truffles are just a memory on your taste buds.
Making truffle butter is the best way to preserve a white truffle before it loses its freshness. It is laughably easy and should only take a few minutes
The quick answer to the question is that there are many breeds which make excellent truffle dogs. If this is not especially helpful that’s because we are asking the wrong question. Rephrasing the question to “What is the best breed of truffle dog for me?” makes it easier to start with some suggestions.
