Ever had a truffle – or a black truffle. The area of France known as the Dordogne produces 80% of these truffles – called Tuber melanosporum or The Perigord Diamond.
They have a subtle aroma and an earthy flavour and reminds every one of rich chocolate or so they say.
Since the best times to get this flavour and aroma is during the European winter or January and February our August visit was not really the best.
The wooded area reminded me of our hills in Australia. Sheep and cows over the road and low scrub under the trees. The truffles grow just beneath the soil among the root systems of oak, beech, hazelnut, chestnut,t birch or poplar trees.
In France the truffle hunters are called rabassiers and use either dogs or pigs – usually the female pig or sow – as they have a fantastic sense of smell – to unearth these black truffles. Trouble is, if you use a pig, you need to be very quick because the pig will eat it. Now there are more dogs being trained to do the search.
The dog – wasn’t told its name – was gorgeous – as per the photos. Once it found the truffle it just pointed its nose toward it and stood there waiting to be patted, fed a thankyou then off to another one. We all thought that the truffles for our trip had been planned previously because the dog rushed off to the next tree before the first truffle had been picked up.
The truffle farm we went to was not very large and 2 large tourist buses had got there long before we arrived so it was difficult trying to take photos and get into the little shop/café. Also our farmer did not speak much English – in fact he didn’t speak much at all. However I think we got the idea of what happens when they go truffle hunting. It was nice and cool under the trees and I enjoyed talking to the dog after it had been tied up after its great efforts. Very few other people bothered – they were more interested in getting into the shop.
We did not stay long at the truffle farm because we were then visiting Grignan.
Post and photos by eldest sister Muriel. Thank You Muriel.
Travel and Lifestyle with Bree 
I have seen a report about truffles and the collectors. A very interesting and expensive food to eat. Thanks for sharing.
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This is the first time I am hearing about truffles. Never seen or eaten them. Now I know what they are and how they are collected. Great post 🙂
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thank you xx
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I have never eaten truffles but have watched few programs lately where truffles are used and would love to try it….one day hopefully bt love reading about how they were collected 🙂
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Me too Carol…yet to see it in action. Saw it in the movie “Under a Tuscan Sun”…
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I think I would enjoy looking for truffles than actually eating one. When my husband and I were in Paris, we had the wonderful opportunity to eat one and not going to lie, I wasn’t crazy about it! I felt crazy for saying this though because it is such a delicacy!
The idea of dogs or pigs sniffing them out is so amazing to me though!
Really enjoyed this post!
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I really wanted to go on this excursion. We have truffle farms out here in Australia so I will have to go to one. I had a little bit of Truffle with my dinner last week when we went out. Its a very strong taste so only a little will do. Thanks so much for reading xx
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Thank you for this behind-the-scenes look at a truffle hunt! I am a mushroom hunter myself (morels, in my case) so I’ve always been curious about exactly how this truffle business works. It’s especially interesting to know that the truffle fans are now switching to dogs instead of using pigs to sniff out the tasty fungi. Wonderful, informative post!
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Thank you. Yes def good that they are using dogs.
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Great post!
Many thanks for stopping by and following my Travel and Photography blog. 🙂
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Your very welcome x
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Very nice…
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I would have loved this day with the truffles
Had my first taste of truffle in 1999 at luke mangans restaurant Salt in sydney
Loved them.
Wish they were more affordable
Sorry you missed it bree and thanks for muriels lovely account of the adventure
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Sounds like fascinating fun in Dordogne! (I’ve never eaten any truffles, or any mushrooms for that matter – I can’t get past the fact that they’re fungus! Crazy, huh?)
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We did have some food on board the ship that was truffle infused. I have had it before. Im very careful with mushrooms as once years ago I had food poisoning from mushrooms..not a pleasant thing at all. If i can smell the mushrooms i feel really sick…and have been sick just from the smell. So in a way I don’t blame you
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Yay, I feel vindicated now! Thanks for that! 😀
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haha
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