FRIDAY: Tartufo Bianco de Alba
What does one do in Piemonte in October other than drink lots of fabulous wine? How about exploring for white gold…otherwise known as tartufo bianco, or white truffles…
Today we went on a truffle hunt. Organized by the Villa, we visited a well-known casa de trifulau and went tramping thru the forest south of Asti with the trifulau his well-trained dog searching for truffles (no, they do not use pigs). Quite fascinating….After a short lecture on the member of the mushroom family we went a searching…. There are 9000 licensed truffle hunters in Piemonte, 3000 in Asti alone. They are entitled to enter any open lands in search of the golden nuggets. And golden they are. A small truffle (I really mean small) will sell for about 30-50 Euros at local establishments (@3-5 Euros per gram)……The dogs are trained from youth and they are the true treasure. Our little cane went scurrying through the trees (truffles grow 4-8 inches underground near the roots of certain trees), and when she picked up the scent, buried her nose in the ground and started to dig. The truffle hunter scurries over and the two of them proceed to dig and search….Sure enough we (ie the dog) found a truffle in two separate areas….The smell is intoxicating.
After the hunt, back to the farmer’s very nice home (while truffle hunters generally hunt as a hobby – however, there are obvious financial benefits) for some local wine (from the vineyard down the hill), real truffle oil on bread, and generous shavings of the white gold over a local mild cheese. This truffle was found the day before – truffles should be eaten within a few days of being picked…Quite delicious…Wanted more and more. A fun morning.
Therafter we headed to Alba – Asti’s rival city. Smaller and quainter, the town literally smelled of truffles – the annual truffle festival was beginning the next day. Looked in all the quaint food and wine shops and wanted to buy it all….
The previous day was spent exploring the Barolo region with a tasting visit to Rivetto del 1902 winery and another fabulous lunch at Cascina Schiavenza in Serralunga D’Alba. The bottle of Arneis (a white wine from nearby) – was not my favorite. We sat outside with a great view of the surrounding landscape. The 2 ½ hour lunch was topped off when the Italian man and his wife sitting next to us bought us all an appertif of Barolo cinato – an herb induced liquor.
What does one do in Piemonte in October other than drink lots of fabulous wine? How about exploring for white gold…otherwise known as tartufo bianco, or white truffles…
Today we went on a truffle hunt. Organized by the Villa, we visited a well-known casa de trifulau and went tramping thru the forest south of Asti with the trifulau his well-trained dog searching for truffles (no, they do not use pigs). Quite fascinating….After a short lecture on the member of the mushroom family we went a searching…. There are 9000 licensed truffle hunters in Piemonte, 3000 in Asti alone. They are entitled to enter any open lands in search of the golden nuggets. And golden they are. A small truffle (I really mean small) will sell for about 30-50 Euros at local establishments (@3-5 Euros per gram)……The dogs are trained from youth and they are the true treasure. Our little cane went scurrying through the trees (truffles grow 4-8 inches underground near the roots of certain trees), and when she picked up the scent, buried her nose in the ground and started to dig. The truffle hunter scurries over and the two of them proceed to dig and search….Sure enough we (ie the dog) found a truffle in two separate areas….The smell is intoxicating.
After the hunt, back to the farmer’s very nice home (while truffle hunters generally hunt as a hobby – however, there are obvious financial benefits) for some local wine (from the vineyard down the hill), real truffle oil on bread, and generous shavings of the white gold over a local mild cheese. This truffle was found the day before – truffles should be eaten within a few days of being picked…Quite delicious…Wanted more and more. A fun morning.
Therafter we headed to Alba – Asti’s rival city. Smaller and quainter, the town literally smelled of truffles – the annual truffle festival was beginning the next day. Looked in all the quaint food and wine shops and wanted to buy it all….
The previous day was spent exploring the Barolo region with a tasting visit to Rivetto del 1902 winery and another fabulous lunch at Cascina Schiavenza in Serralunga D’Alba. The bottle of Arneis (a white wine from nearby) – was not my favorite. We sat outside with a great view of the surrounding landscape. The 2 ½ hour lunch was topped off when the Italian man and his wife sitting next to us bought us all an appertif of Barolo cinato – an herb induced liquor.
I'm so jealous! It sounds amazing. Take me with you next time, I miss you guys.
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