Tuscany

In a stretch of high-grown Tuscan woodlands, a man and his dog pace through the dappled shade of poplars and oaks, casting about and sniffing, until the small sable mutt begins to scrape away the rain-softened earth with his snout. “Ivan, easy now!” says the man, Daniele Borgogni. He gently tugs Ivan away from the hole in the soil, pulls a brush-tipped spade from his belt, and unearths the delicate buried treasure: a truffle about half as long as his hand.

“From the moment a dog starts digging, you’re holding your breath until you see the truffle,” Borgogni says, reaching into the dirt and pulling up a twisted and unmistakably pungent tuberous mass. He offers Ivan a biscuit and smells the truffle with his eyes closed. In the past, Borgogni has lucked upon a truffle bigger than a grapefruit, but occasionally he finds bits so small he relegates them to dog treats. Truffles are such a rarity that some hunts turn up nothing at all.

The rarity and the subsequent expense of this legendary foodstuff give it a culinary clout that precedes most people’s actual experience of the fungus. (This is only true of the genuine article and not the creams, salts, oils and chemical concoctions often served in restaurants.) White truffle, the most sought-after among the twenty-five varieties of this capricious fungus, is found only in a few regions of Italy, particularly Tuscany and Piedmont, and in parts of France and Croatia. Its subtle flavors persist for just a handful of days after extraction. The morsels, found between September and December, fetch prices upwards of $2,000 a kilo. Other types of truffles—black, scorzone, marzuolo, each with its own distinctively musky perfume—sprout in different seasons throughout the year.

Though truffles have been a gastronome’s delight since at least the Roman era, they’ve proven impossible for humans to cultivate, growing only underground in delicate interdependence with the roots of trees and maturing with just the right amount of rain, nutrients and serendipity. There was a time when pigs would lead the hunter to their bounty, but today a dog is the preferred companion—a friend familiar with the ways of both man and nature, but still sensitive enough to smell a mushroom cloaked by layers of land.

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“The relationship between a truffle hunter and his dog is as symbiotic as the relationship between a truffle and a tree,”

Borgogni muses, stroking Ivan’s ears before the creature dashes off to nose out the next cache. Usually Lagotto Romagnolo or mixed breed, truffle dogs are trained from birth, often with the scent of truffle rubbed on their mother’s teat to inculcate the fragrance. It’s an interspecies partnership and a generational tradition that convinced UNESCO to add Italian truffle hunting to its World Heritage List in 2021.

Truffle hunters long worked alone with their dogs, and were known to obscure the exact spots they unearthed their bounty so they could return there the following year in hopes of repeating their fortune. Today, while many continue to search the woods at night for maximum secrecy, joining in more accessible truffle outings has become a popular activity for curious visitors seeking “a hunt without harm,” as Borgogni calls it.

In Tuscany and Piedmont, group truffle hunts are common throughout the fall, with spots available through innumerable activity sites and many accommodation providers in the countryside. The experience is timeless and almost primal. Foraging for truffles is an exhalation of nature as it exists beyond the control of farming, beyond the sanitization of supermarkets. Led by a resolute dog and a hunter, visitors have the thrill of seeing this ambrosial prize plucked from the earth. The best trips end with a meal.

Tuscany and other regions, notably in San Miniato and San Giovanni d’Asso, are full of sagre, the seasonal food festivals of Italy that celebrate a specific local ingredient. Many of these are dedicated to truffles, the bounty prepared with traditional recipes in portions designed to feed a whole town. Yet to experience the hunt itself is to participate in a preindustrial ritual, a sort of sensorial worship of nature and its redolent wonders. The wild mystery and heady allure of truffles are best grasped in that hushed moment, breath held, between hunter and dog in the woods.

GETTING THERE
From Florence, take a regional train to Siena or Poggibonsi. Local taxi services can take you to more rural destinations, and most regional hotels can connect you with a truffle hunter willing to bring you along. Alternatively, try trufflehunter.net to arrange an experience.

SEE & TOUR
Visit Castello di Ama, a Chianti vineyard home to a collection of sitespecific contemporary art by Anish Kapoor, Jenny Holzer, Louise Bourgeois and more. Bathe in mineral-rich waters amid a forest at the Bagni San Filippo or follow the Sentierelsa, a bucolic hiking trail dotted with waterfalls.

STAY
Castello di Casole is Tuscany at its most indulgent, a converted castle with an infinity pool overlooking pristine hills. Villa le Prata is an elegant bed-and-breakfast with topnotch cuisine served in the garden, and Fattoria di Cinciano is a rustic homestay offering simple, tasteful lodgings with extraordinary views.

WORTH KNOWING
If you are lucky enough to take fresh truffles home with you, they should be consumed as soon as possible—certainly within five days. To store, wrap each truffle individually in a paper towel and place it in an airtight container in the fridge. Change the paper towel every day.

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