Hello - we are staying in Verduno near Alba / La Morra area for 4 nights Sept 19-23 . I see it is the very start of truffle hunting season . Would love to try it , I think my husband would enjoy the trained dogs :) we will have a car so willing to drive . We are not into huge crowd tour people , would prefer something a little more intimate - we are fine with a small group tho :) any recommendations from anyone that has done this and had a good experience.
Thank you for your help- Joan
Posted by
Tucson
7 posts
I'd be skeptical about truffle hunting experiences, I know most of them are fake (I've talked to people in the industry).
Which is not hard to believe when every truffle hunting experience with tourists results in them finding truffles.. nature doesn't work like that.
I've been told that often they pre-place the truffle and do kind of acting pretending they found it with you.
In Tuscany I had the chance to do a mushroom hunting experience instead, and it was authentic, as in, we found dozens of different mushrooms, there was no guarantee that we would find/pick something, but the guide scouted a few places before giving us the exact meeting point.
If there is something like that in your area I'd recommend that instead, as mushrooms cannot be "pre-placed" there for you to find, you would notice that easily!
Posted by
OP
32 posts
Oh bummer - ok thanks for that information! Appreciate your input - Joan
Posted by
138 posts
What Traveler "has been told" is how truffle dogs have been trained for 100 years. They should tell customers they are taking part in a lesson and not in the real thing, but I wouldn't say it's totally "fake".
White truffle is priced at $8,000 per lb, I bet they don't take tourists where you can find it. Real truffle hunters start working one hour before dawn and they are not very social, "acting" is not their style.