has its own character and the ' truff1e-hound'
is no exception; whereas most choose to sniff,
paw and snort at a 'fixed-point' of ground, one
particularly successful canine landed her
bottom on the spot and would not be moved from
it until her master turned up with his truffle
rake. The rakes, incidentally, are like
'mini' picks made by the local blacksmith and
varying from region to region, and often from
owner to owner.
Truffles can be found amongst the surface leaf
litter or deep underground as much as metre
below. Once spotted, or more accurately
'scented', it is essential to get the truffle
up as soon as possible. The dog considers its
job is done at this point and it becomes
necessary to distract the animal away when a
dig is unsuccessful in order to bring it back
again to reverify the particular spot until
something turns up - for the dog is seldom
wrong.
We completed this fascinating foray around a
field side table which had been generously
loaded up with home baked bread, sausages,
village cheeses and bottles of Nebbiola wine
denoting the provenance of the local vines and
proudly labelled 'For the Master of the house
and his friends'.
I could feel my stomach expanding for the day-
was turning into a gastronomic marathon; the
afternoon was spent at Grinzane Cavour Castle,
which apart from possessing a truffle and wine
museum, has a renowned restaurant specialising
in classic dishes of the region. Here we were