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with little success. Systematic sorties in
oak and beech woods produced only a few puny
specimens of the summer truffle (T. aestivum)
and an assortment of miniscule 'false'
truffles, and no sign of ever striking any rich
vein. Not a 'sniff of the fat black
'Perigord' truffle (T. melanosporum), nor
even the faintest 'whiff of the gnarled white
'alba' truffle (T. nagnatus) - the 'black and
white' diamonds of France and Italy, which can
sell for more than £40 an ounce. They may be
found as small as peas or as large as potatoes.
Hugo Dun—Meynell of the International Wine &
Food Society has described truffles as
'mysterious, scarce, ugly, wild, sensuous, a
luxury of princes and beautiful women, with
reputedly aphrodisiac qualities'.
Primarily France and to a lesser extend Spain
first spring to mind in association with the
truffle, but it is Italy which is by far the
largest producer and the main source of supply
to the tables of the world. It was logical,
therefore, for the British Mycological Society
to choose Italy for its first overseas truffle
hunt. I joined the British party led by Dr.
Dave Minter from Kew, which assembled in Milan
to link up with international colleagues from
Italy, America, Canada, Australia and China.
There we were met by the short, chubby,
energetic Dr. Giovanni Pacioni, a botanist from
L'Aquila University, an expert on truffles, and
the organising genius of the Italian search.
The indefatigable Dr. Paciohi had mapped out an
ambitious plan which would take the