Black truffles have a subtler fragrance than white truffles and are more reasonably priced. There are also summer and winter truffle varieties, with the summer ones being the more affordable of the two. So-called “winter truffles” from the Umbria and Piedmont regions are rare and therefore expensive, black in color both inside and out.
Any truffle you get is going to be expensive though, which lends a sense of luxury to dishes that incorporate it. And yet, you’d hardly call them lovely to look at. They’re so misshapen that you’d think they were rocks if you didn’t know otherwise. Luckily, they’re far too pungent to be mistaken for rocks—and are really more like treasures that belong in a glass display case.
Truffles are a type of mushroom, though they look nothing like the many types of mushrooms found all over the world. This is because, unlike typical aboveground mushrooms, truffles grow below the surface of the soil. Because this underground fungus lives in a different environment than other mushrooms, it has no rain or wind to carry away its spores. Instead, it must rely on animals like rodents and wild boar for help. It’s easy to see why an organism that relies on animals to dig it up would have such an overpowering scent.
The Lagotto Romagnolo is a midsized Italian dog breed trained to find truffles. They also make great family pets, thanks to their docile, laid-back temperament. They’re also intelligent dogs that respond well to disciplined training.
But these intelligent, capable dogs can also be unexpectedly passionate about their truffles. One veteran truffle-hunter got frustrated with a rookie dog that was messing up the hunt, and decided to start hiding the truffles it found from the newcomer thereafter. The exasperated owner did everything they could to persuade and cajole the veteran dog to change its behavior, but it stubbornly refused to reveal its hiding spot.
In another story, two men got into an argument in a truffle-hunting area when they both tried to dig up a truffle in the same spot—since it wasn’t clear whose dog got there first. The priest at the local church got involved and suggested that they split the truffle, which was intended to be a fair solution—but when one man complained that the truffle was cut unfairly, the two men started fighting all over again.
There was another incident of thieves using truffle-hunting dogs to steal from truffle farms—but the poachers’ plans were instantly revealed when their dogs started barking upon finding their treasure. I guess truffle thieves need to do some more advanced training with their pooches and teach them some other way to warn them aside from making noise…
There is no shortage of interesting stories inspired by these expensive truffles!
