From Parisian to walnut farmer and truffle hunter

Just read this wonderful story by Tom Fiorina about how he became a truffle hunter. Hunting truffles not with a pig, not with a dog. But with flies. Truffle flies.

I have participated in a truffle hunt a few times and it’s always been with a dog. That’s what is usually the case these days. But I’ve heard it explained and seen it demonstrated that you can do it by letting the flies guide you. But I hardly thought it was true. But apparently it is.

It’s a wonderful story and you should read all of it (it’s quite long but worth while).

Just to illustrate it a bit, here’s a truffle fly (a real, but dead, one):

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And here are a few illustrations of how you do it:

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(No, that’s not Tom Fiorina on the picture)

Here’s a rather normal size truffle:

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And a really, really big one:

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Here you can see the white pattern inside the truffle:

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But back to hunting them. Digging to find it:

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Here it is. What? You think it’s a stone?

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Well, this may look like one but it tastes quite different from a stone, and costs a bit more:

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If you don’t trust your fly finding capabilities:

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Some truffles canapes perhaps?:

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And if you have too many you can sell them at the market:

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If you want to see more truffles and truffles hunting photos you can look here.

We occasionally organise truffle hunting tours for the enthusiasts. Where you can take part in a real truffle hunt a winter morning (you can only do it from December to February…). And once you’ve spent all morning outside, frozen to the bone (perhaps), we sit down around a lunch table and have a truffle lunch: appetizer with truffles, starter with truffles, main course with truffles, and a bit more truffles, cheese with truffles, dessert with truffles… It’s really a wonderful experience.

If you’re curious you can find out more about our truffles and wine tours here. Sometimes we have a truffles tour on our ‘public’ tour program but we also do them custom made on request.