Photo: Courtesy Alfagia di Volterra
Italy’sAlfagia di Volterra, a specialty food company focused on truffles and based in Volterra, Tuscany, has been bringing diners the world’s finest Tuscan truffles for years.
Though the company has three human truffle hunters, among the best in Volterra, who devote their days to finding the city’s best hidden truffle spots, they can’t do this without their specially trained canines. A breed known as theLagotto romagnolois considered the “truffle dog,” but Alfagia di Volterra prefer cross-bred dogs, specifically Springer Spaniels crossed with lines of dogs that have been truffle hunting for generations.
Courtesy Alfagia di Volterra
On the “real hunt,” human hunters rely on their dogs’ noses to detect the faint smell of a truffle, as the funghi grow a few feet below ground. Once the dog has tracked down one of the precious mushrooms, it begins to dig; and it is here that the dog’s job is done and human hunters step in to carefully extract the prized food item.
Since extreme focus is required to sniff out a truffle, Alfagia di Volterra’s dogs only work a few hours a day. After they are off the clock, the dogs enjoy hours of play, affection and rest.
Their efforts allowAlfagia di Volterra to produceblack truffle Volterra salt, white truffle flavored extra virgin olive oil, two varieties of truffle honey and butter, all of which are available at U.S. speciality shops.
source: people.com
