Savini Tartufi - Montanelli (Italy)
When thinking about truffles, probably the first place that comes to mind is Alba/Piemonte. But make no mistake about it, Tuscan truffles should not be overlooked.
When visiting the region, I enjoyed this delicacy in many restaurants. But for me, that was not enough as I wanted to see firsthand how the truffle hunting process works.
Truffle hunting can be a tourist trap depending on where you go, with truffles planted on purpose to assure that the visitors do not go back home empty handed. That is not the case with @savinitartufi, and I can assure that the experience there is as real as it gets.
Truffles are fungi that grow under the dirt, in the roots of trees. During our visit, our guide Luca explained everything there is to know about his passion and the training of the hunting dogs.
It starts with a little bit of truffle oil being put on their mother’s milk. And as they grow, little amounts of truffles are included in their diet, way before the actual hunting training starts.
Once we headed into the forest, the real action began. Luca brought 2 dogs with him, father and son. This dynamic, while not common, was fascinating, as we were able to notice the differences in behavior between an experienced and trained dog and one still learning.
During our visit, it was black truffle season, and we were able to witness the discovery of at least 4 beautiful ones. Upon smelling it, the dog starts digging, but it does not eat and recognizes that it is Luca’s job to pick it up. Once this is finished, he receives a treat.
Once we finished, we hopped back on the Land Rover and rode back to Savini’s shop, where they prepared us a spectacular truffle based lunch that included pasta, fried eggs and even ice cream.
With more than 100 years in operation, I loved to see how Savini is both a family business (with less than 30 employees) and a global one, exporting to different countries and top restaurants/chefs. It wasalso very beautiful to see how happy the dogs were to be in the woods and how passionate Luca is around the subject and the values he embraces day in and day out.
(Versão em Português nos comentários)
