Hunting the truffle reveals deeper treasures
“Caffe?”
“Certo, grazie.” After all we’re in Italy, and a little slug of this drug seems the perfect preparation for the adventure ahead; hunting for another aromatic Italian source of joy, the truffle!
Its price is high, its season is short, and its hunting grounds are a well-protected secret, not just from us visitors, but from other truffle hunters. This explains why our visit today is shrouded in mystery. The only thing we are told is to meet in the Piazza del Mercato at 10 am.
It is here that the ubiquitous coffee is taken, and where the planners amongst us also take advantage of the café’s toilet. When you spend enough time in Europe you realise that you just never know where the next one might be. Later I will be grateful I remembered to do this!
Truffles might be one of the most expensive ingredients in a chef’s kitchen, but the truffle hunt is an adventure in earthy, rustic simplicity. As we leave the café we walk toward a rough and ready 4WD farm vehicle parked in the Piazza. I can see it has only 4 spare seats and, we being a group of 6, I wonder how this will work. Our group’s host Marco and the truffle hunter Luca exchange a few words, then Marco heads toward the very rear of the vehicle and pulls open a cage-like door. He leans around and beckons my husband, “Phil, we’re in the back”.
Our first stop is just a few streets away, under a stone archway, and inside a private courtyard. Here we pick up the most important individual of the day, Maya. She joins the boys in the rear, unceremoniously squeezing her bottom between them, barely acknowledging their existence. But we can see she is excited. Maya is our truffle dog.
We will learn much today including how the dogs are trained, the types of tree groves and land formation where truffles can be found, the difference between the more accessible black truffle (our target today because it is July) and the highly prized white truffle (found between September and December), and the secret traditions of the truffle hunters.
We will walk through forests with no trails, follow creeks that trickle freely to unknown destinations, and watch Maya intently as she whips too and fro, following a scent that only she can detect.
We will all hoot with excitement when she suddenly props for a second, then claws at the soft earth. Luca moves fastest of us all to ensure he gets his hands around the precious black gem before Maya’s claws hit pay dirt. Earthy diamond uncovered, Maya is rewarded, and then she is off on her search for the next one.
We have barely had a chance to inspect the first treasure, smell its pungent aroma and touch its dirty skin before she is once again digging. We scramble up the furrowed hill, some of us trying to record her spirited game on our phones while also avoiding overhanging branches. I cannot say I managed any great photos, lost as I was in the rhythm of short animated chases, and long slow meandering conversations.
If you were to come on the truffle hunt interested only in the task of digging this black gold from the earth, you’d be missing the greatest treasure of Piemonte. For the truffle hunt is just an opportunity to converse with the people of the land. Here in this north western corner of Italy, with their backs pressed against the Alps and their toes pointing down toward the Mediterranean Sea, the Piemontese are different to any other Italians.
In fact, Italians from elsewhere will be the first to tell you that the Piemontese are slow to reveal themselves. They are reserved, unassuming and calm, nothing like the Italian stereotype! Getting to know them is like peeling layers of the proverbial onion. But when they let you in they are the most warm, generous and hospitable people you could ever hope to find. On first meeting you may mistakenly assume them to be simple folk of the land, but in fact they are deeply reflective souls who know that true beauty needs no adornment.
This is why the prized truffle is served on a simple dish; maybe a plate of polenta or pasta. Anything else would be distraction. In a world where travel is often about going from one sight to the next, here it is about the space in between. The true Piemonte is found when you stop looking for something, and simple look.
It is no accident that this is the land of “slow”, the birthplace of a movement that encourages the whole world to reconnect with a rhythm of life that has always nourished our bodies and our souls. Every time I return to the stunning hills of the Langhe, and its neighbor where we hunted today, Roero, I feel a restful ease flow over me. This region is more than the sum of its parts. Yes, the beautiful vistas bewitch the eye and the wines please the tongue, but the beauty here soaks deeper than the senses. There is something sacred here, a connection to the pulse of life that comes from the land.
As truffle hunting moved to truffle eating at Luca’s off-the-grid hut (no toilet in sight!), I don’t know if it was the large bottle of red wine, or the intimacy of walking the land together, but our conversations went deep. This was no “tasting tour”, it was one of those rare events that happen when strangers come together, share something authentic and peel back their own layers to let the moment in. Surely this is why we leave our homes and set forth to discover the world.
I was introduced to the true beauty of the Langhe, Roero and other special places in Piemonte by Landmade. More than a tour operator, they have a way of revealing experiences that make you feel like you’re the only one who has ever been there.
