A couple of weeks ago whilst wandering not overly far from the garden at Bellaugello I stumbled across a very strong scent of truffle. I am not blessed with the best sense of smell, but wow this was not strong, it was knockout.
I went to visit Giordano, my neighbour’s son who as well as training truffle hunting dogs is an expert truffle hunter. Sadly his dog was just recovering from an operation, so they were not able to come immediately.
This morning with Bianca recovered we went hunting. I won’t tell you exactly where, the place must be kept secret, especially as it is a zone of the highly prized white winter truffle. Truffle hunters must have a licence to dig for truffles, it can be very lucrative.
Somebody had got there first, the smell of truffle remained, much diminished, and there was evidence of recent digging. Giordano suspected that the culprit might have been a cinghale (wild boar) and sadly no truffles remained to be found.
The season for summer truffles is drawing to a close, the cinghale season is soon to begin, and then the white truffle season…… Here’s hoping!