We’re going on a Piedmont truffle hunt

It all started at 7am one Friday morning, near a secret pocket of forest in the Barolo Valley. We were here to meet a mysterious man called Carlo who, along with his two dogs, had agreed to take us on a local walk with a difference: deep on a Piedmont truffle hunt.

It was midsummer so it was black truffle season, which runs until the end of August. If we were here in October through to the beginning of the new year, we’d be hunting for the elusive and expensive white truffle, famous from this area.

But we were excited about this black truffle stuff. Piemontese cooking uses enthusiastic amounts of it in their dishes; why, we’d had it on toast for antipasti just the night before. It’s an earthy taste, one of those ancient forest foods that adds a shadowy layer to every meal.

Both black and white truffle grow undisturbed below ground in the same patches of woods around Barolo and the Langhe region of Piedmont. And when the timing is right, they’re just waiting to be sniffed out.

And so there we were, waiting on the edge of a thick bank of trees. A Fiat Panda 4×4 arrived and Carlo jumped out, two snow white truffle dogs in tow. Already sniffing the ground expectantly, they were a mother-and-son team by the name of Amy and Bouk. They watched their owner Carlo, waiting for instructions.

Carlo spoke to us raptly then about Piedmont truffle hunting: the vast experience of the older men; the desire to protect the wild forest habitat; the close regulation of when and where you can hunt; and the training of the dogs by adding bits of truffle into their puppy food. It was a whole world we knew nothing about, a bit like the forest we were about to enter

Then the five of us together plunged into the woods – if anyone had been watching us, we would’ve disappeared out of sight immediately.

We followed a faint path and it was quiet, just Carlo speaking low to the dogs. We felt the expectation beginning to grow as we walked. The forest suddenly felt quite mysterious, untamed and exciting.

Carlo stopped at a clearing and picked one dog: the son, Bouk. He let him off the lead and they began to search the ground methodically. We followed behind as Carlo and Bouk went this way and that, Carlo chanting Bouk’s name and one-word instructions. Bouk was beside himself with excitement and soon found the scent, digging madly.

And we got it: a truffle round, dark, not so deep. It was swiped quickly from Bouk’s overkeen paws, and stored in a jar.

We walked on through the forest for what ended up as two hours, finding little places to look, and it was so joyful watching the dogs hunt and dig. (They were incredibly pleased with themselves afterwards too). It felt like such an ancient activity picking our way through the forest with the dogs, looking for signs and smells.

After the truffle hunt ended, we bumped and bounced back up the track (honestly Fiat Pandas are a wonder). And we saw the patch of forest we’d been searching in properly – it was a wood we had glimpsed and seen a hundred times whilst here. What secrets and ways it had that we didn’t know!

So we loved the hunt. We loved going deep into one tiny area, and obviously loved fussing the dogs (who incidentally are very friendly and generally appear to be loving life). And it struck us that a truffle hunt is essentially a lens for us to experience more of Piedmont, so important is the truffle to life here.

A good morning in Barolo.

So going on a Piedmont truffle hunt: what to know

Contact Langhe Roero tourism to set you up with a truffle hunter in a specially designated place. Truffles can only be hunted at certain times of the year and the activity is quite strictly regulated.
The hunt can last for anything from half an hour to 2+ hours.

Usually the truffle hunter will plant the truffles beforehand when on a hunt with visitors – this is to protect the secret locations of truffles! But neither you nor the dogs have any idea where they are, so is still all the fun.

Every October is the Piedmont white truffle fair, where everyone goes truffle mad! This is when the world-famous white truffle auction happens, and everything truffle is sold in vibrant food fairs all over the region.

We collaborated on our truffle hunt with Langhe Roero, who kindly offered us a hunt for free. This is obviously still our honest opinions on it.

Have you ever tried truffle? What about the white or black varieties?

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