Tours of Umbria Italy

Video of Truffle Hunting Trip in Umbria

A video of a recent truffle hunting trip in the forests above Spoleto:

Some Truffle and Truffle Hunting Information

I have posted some truffle and truffle hunting information on our website as a beginners guide to truffle hunting (a section of which I reproduce below). The intention is to add to it over time...

What is a truffle?
Truffles (or tartufi in Italian) are a kind of fungus, related to mushrooms, which grow underground among the roots of trees. Truffles live in a symbiotic partnership with the host trees. In exchange for nutrients provided by the truffle the tree provides food in the form of carbohydrates for the truffle. There are many different types of truffle but the most sought-after are the Tuber magnatum (the precious white truffle) and Tuber melanosporum (the precious black truffle) which are found mainly in Italy and France.

What kind of truffles can be found in Umbria?
Around Spoleto the main kind of truffle is the precious black truffle (Tuber melanosporum) known as the Perigord black truffle but which is also known in Italy as the Tartufo di Spoleto or Tartufo di Norcia. The other main edible truffles are the black summer truffle also known as the scorzone (Tuber aestivum) and its close cousin the uncinato (Tuber uncinatum). A less precious kind of white truffle called bianchetto (Tuber borchii) can also be found.

How are truffles found?
In order for its spores to be scattered truffles rely on being eaten by animals. In order to attract animals they have a particular smell that appeals not only to wild animals but also to chefs and gourmets. The distinctive aroma can also be detected by trained dogs who show their master to the spot where the ripe truffle is to be found. Truffle hunting pigs were used traditionally as they have a natural fondness for truffles and so do not need as much training but it is actually very rare for pigs to be used any more. As well as being harder to transport and less mobile then dogs pigs are also more likely to eat the truffles they find whereas dogs are happy with a piece of biscuit in exchange for their find.

Are there other ways to find truffles?
Digging holes randomly where truffles have been found previously may turn up some truffles but is ultimately counter-productive as it damages the root system of the tree and so reduces the future yield of truffles. While humans can only smell the distinctive truffle smell from up close there are sometimes other indications that can hint at the presence of black truffles such as "burnt ground" or brulee around the tree where the truffle has suppressed weeds and competition from other plants around the tree roots. A small mound made by an expanding truffle can also sometimes be detected by an experienced truffle hunter. It is even possible, with the aid of a long stick to disturb the forest floor and a keen eye, to detect truffles by looking out for a special kind of fly that lands on or hovers near areas where there are ripe truffles.

   

A Truffle Hunting Trip in Italy –Finding Truffles in the forests of Umbria

At the weekend it was the annual truffle market in Norcia and we were out on a truffle hunting trip in the forests above Spoleto. Although the haul wasn’t enormous (only one small “precious” black truffle and a handful of early “summer” black truffles) it is always a great excuse for a walk in the country (like golf for foodies!). After building up an appetite climbing through the forests we enjoyed a fantastic truffle lunch with the truffle hunter made almost entirely from products which had come from within a mile or two of his farm (not only the truffles but also salamis, cured hams, olive oil, sausages and vegetables –even the wine was from a friend of his who had a vineyard in Montefalco). Below are some photos. I shot a couple of video clips too which I will upload at some stage.

 

Photos of Truffle Hunting in Umbria

I came across (thanks to the blog of Gareth Renowden, author of the excellent "The Truffle Book") some nice photos of truffle hunting in Umbria near Spoleto in the Australian "Regional Food" magazine:

http://www.regionalfood.com.au/RF2/mmedia/truffles/default.asp

Pressing our Umbrian Olive Oil

After the picking it was off to the olive oil press... The olive oil is cold pressed (you can see it trickling down through the pressing mats in one part) and has a delicious peppery taste. After we got the olive oil it was was straight back home to toast some bruschette over the wood fire with the freshly pressed olive oil drizzled on top. Delicious!

Olive Picking in Umbria

Last week we finally got round to doing some olive picking. It was fairly late in the season but it was a beautiful crisp sunny day which helped (along with the steady stream of espressos and treats that got passed up the tree during the course of the day). Although by no means an expert I managed (half way up the olive tree) to juggle the video camera and the little rake to get these shots which is about as close as you can get to olive picking in Umbria without actually being there! The sound like marbles dropping is actually the olives falling into the basket I had around my neck -the rest fell on the net below and were gathered from there.

Video How to Buy Truffles

A short video explaining what you should be looking for when buying truffles:

http://www.chow.com/stories/11398

Of course you can become a bit of an expert yourself in buying truffles on our Truffle Hunting in Umbria Tour which we are organising to coincide with the Nero Norcia black truffle festival at the end of February 2009.

Water into Sagrantino Does Not Go (at Least in Italy)

Another interesting post in the New York Times by Alice Feiring on her California Sagrantino producing adventure. Apparently the Sagrantino grapes picked are too sweet which will probably result in too high an alcohol level –even though Sagrantino di Montefalco produced here in Umbria has a fairly high alcohol content -generally around 14% to 14.5%. In fact from the video (see the post below) the grapes looked like they were well on their way to being “passito” (the sweet version of Sagrantino produced using grapes that are allowed to dry out). The interesting thing is that in California this problem of excess sweetness can be corrected simply by adding water –which, as is noted in the article, is not permitted in Italy.

On a different note I spent yesterday being a bit of a geek and playing with setting up a couple of mini-websites for our Italian cooking tours and cooking holidays here in Umbria. I must say that I am fairly pleased with the results.

More Sagrantino in California

A couple of nice little videos showing Alice Feiring and Kevin Hamel picking Sagrantino grapes in California with Ridgely Evers:

Brunello remains Brunello (100% Sangiovese “grosso”)

The Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino have voted on Monday that Brunello di Montalcino will remain 100% Sangiovese “grosso”. Apparently one of the largest and best known producers had been backing a motion for a 3 to 5% tolerance to “provide for human error” but if you think they alone produce around 60,000 cases of Brunello a year that is nearly 27,000 liters of human error… With an investigation into illicit blending (and 4.4 million bottles still impounded by local investigators) hanging over Brunello it is not a great moment for one of Italy’s most famous wines.