Italy boasts the world’s oldest and largest tradition of truffle hunting, which is part of the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage list. Over 70,000 licensed hunters wander in the Italian forests at night with their dogs, which are essential to detect the scent of truffles beneath the soil.
Its truffle capital is Alba in the Piedmont region, which is home to some of Italy’s best-loved and most famous wines, including Barolo and Barbaresco. Both these wines pair wonderfully with truffle dishes, and you’ll be able to enjoy the local wines of Alba if you attend one of its famous truffle festivals.
Running for nine weeks from October to December The International White Truffle Fair of Alba is a celebration of the white truffle and boasts cooking demonstrations, wine and truffle matching classes and truffle sensory analysis workshops.
Outside of Italy, Burgundy also has a rich truffle heritage. Its autumn truffles are in season from September until the New Year and are dark brown with intense aromas of earth and roasted hazelnut. Despite their name they are found outside of the Burgundy region too, in regional France, Italy and Croatia.
One factor that drives the popularity of truffles is their unique ability to transpose the aromas of the earth into edible form. All truffles release musky nuances that recall the beguiling experience of walking in the woods after the rain, but white truffles do so in an especially delicate and refined way.
Truffles in brief
Truffles are hypogeous fungi that grow close to the roots of trees and develop intense aromas when reaching maturity in order to attract animals to eat them and, in doing so, spread the spores.
Different truffle species exist but not all of them are suitable for human consumption. The ones we usually eat are black winter truffle, which grow between December and March, black summer truffle (available between May and August), and white truffle of Alba.
The latter, scientifically named tuber magnatum pico (‘truffle of the lords’), reaches maturity between the beginning of October and January. The lofty prices and reputation of white truffles derive from both the quality and the rarity – they only grow in geographically limited areas, and only close to a small group of specific trees including hornbeams, hazelnuts and downy oaks. The climate must be humid and rainy but not too cold, as ice makes truffle hunting impossible.
Where to find truffles in Italy
White truffle: Langhe (Piedmont), Acqualagna (Marche), San Miniato (Tuscany), Molise, L’Aquila and Chieti (Abruzzo).
Black truffle: Central Italy (especially Umbria), Irpinia (Campania), Alta Langa (Piedmont), Pizzo Calabro and the Pollino area (Calabria).
Wine and truffle food pairings
Famed for their stunning aromatics, truffles have an extremely potent smell but little or no actual taste. This means that in order to fully enjoy them the ingredients they are shaved onto or incorporated within need some thought, as does the choice of accompanying wine.
Wine with white truffle
Eggs and cheese
Aged Chardonnay with judicious oak influence works well when shaving truffles on to neutral and creamy dishes such as eggs en cocotte (baked eggs) and cheese fondue. Examples from northeast Italy in particular allow the truffle to shine while balancing the dish with a kick of cleansing acidity.
Pasta and risotto
Tajarin (Piedmontese tagliatelle) with butter and risotto al tartufo bianco (white truffle risotto) also match complex white wines with a little bottle age. Try a quality Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, which can offer complementary honeyed and earthy flavours along with good acidity to balance.
Meat
With its lifted aromatics and pinpoint tannins, Carema from Piedmont pairs well with carne cruda con tartufo bianco (steak tartare with white truffle). This medium-bodied Nebbiolo-based wine is also a great alternative if you’re craving red wine with the dishes above.
Barolo and Barbaresco require a juicy fillet of beef with white truffle to balance their tannic heft. If you can’t find an older vintage, try a younger yet earlier-drinking vintage.
Wine with black truffle
Black truffles require slightly bolder and more rustic wines than white truffles.
Eggs and cheese
When shaved onto Scamorza cheese or savoury crêpes, they match full-bodied white wines made from neutral grapes such as oak-aged Vernaccia di San Gimignano.
Pasta and meat
Strangozzi (Umbrian ‘spaghetti’) served with shaved black truffle, as well as meat courses, go well with medium-weight Sangiovese-based reds. Try Montefalco Rosso from Umbria.
