{"id":19895,"date":"2022-01-20T21:07:12","date_gmt":"2022-01-20T21:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.devourtours.com\/?p=19895"},"modified":"2022-08-05T16:24:18","modified_gmt":"2022-08-05T16:24:18","slug":"truffles-in-tuscany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/dev.devourtours.com\/blog\/truffles-in-tuscany\/","title":{"rendered":"Truffles in Tuscany: History, Mystery, and Passion"},"content":{"rendered":"

We here at Devour Tours love the kinds of stories that food can tell us about a place. So when there\u2019s a food story that includes witchcraft, Marilyn Monroe, and the Roman god of thunder, we\u2019re even more eager to share.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Three
The prized white truffles from Alba, Italy. Photo credit: Chuttersnap<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Few foodstuffs inspire devotion like the truffle\u2014and we don\u2019t mean the chocolate kind. We\u2019re talking about the (admittedly modest-looking) fungus that grows underground throughout Italy and can fetch more than $1,000 per pound.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While truffles can be found in every Italian region, truffles in Tuscany are among the most sought after. Not only are Tuscany\u2019s woods home to multiple kinds of truffles (including the most valuable, the white truffle), there are ample opportunities for curious visitors to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of truffle culture. Tuscany also hosts numerous truffle festivals each year, offering travelers and locals alike a chance to learn more about\u2014not to mention taste\u2014the famous fungus.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To set the stage for the modern-day worship of truffles, though, we\u2019ve got to start with a little bit of time travel.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

History and Culture of Truffle Hunting<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Historical evidence of humans consuming truffles goes all the way back to the Persian Gulf area in the 20th century B.C. By the time ancient Romans were eating truffles in the first century A.D.\u2014a practice they adopted from the Etruscans\u2014the humble tuber had been elevated to something of a luxury item found mainly on the nobility\u2019s tables.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The ancient Romans enjoyed eating truffles, but their mysterious origin led to some fanciful ideas. A Roman poet took inspiration from the notion that truffles were caused by lightning bolts to imagine that said lightning was thrown by Jupiter himself, while other common stories involved witchcraft. Not only that, many claimed truffles were aphrodisiacs.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s no surprise, then, that by the Middle Ages<\/a> the church didn\u2019t look too favorably on truffles. They were, at best, peasant food.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the 14th century, the truffle began the rise to its former luxury status, becoming the sort of priceless gift one might give a king. Even when truffle cultivation was posited in the 19th and 20th centuries, this former \u201cpeasant food\u201d lost none of its allure.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

An <\/span>entrepreneurial hotelier and <\/span><\/a>tartufaio<\/span><\/i><\/a> (truffle seller) in the Piedmont region, in an effort to make the region\u2019s white truffles even more celebrated than black truffles, sent his white truffles to celebrities all over the world starting in 1949. Recipients included US President Truman, Winston Churchill, the Pope, and Marilyn Monroe. The marketing gambit was such a success that white truffles from Alba remain some of the most expensive today.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"An
Hunting for truffles in the Italian forest. Photo credit: Dana McMahan<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Truffle Hogs vs. Truffle Dogs<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Because truffles have such a strong scent, the best truffle hunters have a keener sense of smell than humans do. Pigs were used as truffle hunters for centuries, since their natural food foraging techniques led them to the pungent tubers hiding underground. The trouble with truffle hogs, however, is twofold.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

First, all that rooting around in the soil can damage the subterranean ecosystem that allows truffles to grow (using pigs to hunt truffles was banned in Italy in 1985). Second, and perhaps of more immediate concern, hogs have a tendency to quickly gobble up any truffles they find.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, truffle hunters use highly-trained truffle dogs to sniff out the tubers, which the dogs can be trained to simply identify and neither dig up nor eat. Good truffle dogs can cost thousands of dollars, and theft of dogs by rival truffle hunters isn\u2019t uncommon.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Brown
A truffle dog makes a find in the dirt. Photo credit: Andrea Cairone<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Where Truffles are Cultivated in Tuscany<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Truffle hunters today know a great deal more about where truffles like to grow than the ancient Romans did, so finding them is less of a mystery and more of a science.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Traditionally, truffles are found around the base of oak trees, though truffles in Tuscany grow in areas that have a variety of trees\u2014including hazel and pine. And because we now know more about <\/span>how<\/span><\/i> truffles grow, they can even be cultivated by infusing a sapling\u2019s roots with truffle spores.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019re hunting or cultivating them, though, collecting truffles requires an abundance of time and patience.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tuscany\u2019s Truffle Zones<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

There are six areas where you can find truffles in Tuscany:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n