Truffle Hunting in Montone
March 3, 2014 at 2:51 pm 15 comments
I have many pleasant memories of Italy. One of them was a visit to a farm in Montone, a walled medieval village tracing its roots back in the 10th century. It’s about 20 miles from the city of Perugia in central Italy.
Our travel guide said we’d go for truffle hunting. Pardon my ignorance, but it led me to assume that truffles were some kind of prey. I squirmed at the thought of seeing blood on my hands. Little did i know that they are actually wild mushrooms that grow underground where oak trees are found.
For the hunt, we accompanied Sergio, the farm owner, and Napo, his trusted dog. He let Napo run loose on the property sniffing for truffles. When Napo stopped on a spot and started scratching the surface, Sergio rewarded the dog with a piece of cheese and started digging.
And… voila! We got truffles! It was like striking gold. Black truffles cost around $300 to $600 a pound in the open market.
The host family served us home cooked meals for dinner complete with wine and truffles with crostini. It was an occasion where we experienced the real meaning of Italian hospitality. We were treated like one of their own.
Entry filed under: Blogroll. Tags: DPchallenge, humor, italy, montone, postaday, travel, vacation.
1.
Amy | March 4, 2014 at 7:59 am
What an adventure! $300-600 😀
2.
plaridel | March 4, 2014 at 5:17 pm
amy:
that price was a few years back. they may cost more or less now depending on the demand. 🙂
3.
Amy | March 4, 2014 at 5:28 pm
and people are willing to pay 😕
4.
plaridel | March 4, 2014 at 10:10 pm
amy:
i suppose the top 1%.
5.
scentofrina | March 4, 2014 at 12:26 pm
Thank you for the ping back! Lovely story! I love Italy too!:)
6.
plaridel | March 4, 2014 at 5:18 pm
scentofrina:
you’re welcome.
7.
gurpreetksekhon | March 6, 2014 at 10:41 am
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8.
Mark Zimmerman | August 26, 2014 at 10:06 am
Do you have contact info for the truffle farmer? Or his name or the name of his farm? Thanks.
9.
plaridel | August 26, 2014 at 3:36 pm
mark:
i don’t have the exact address, but you can contact giancarlo polito, chef an owner of hotel la locanda del capitano where we stayed in montone. the farm is a short walking distance from his hotel.
Giancarlo Polito
Hotel La Locanda Del Capitano
Via Roma, 5, 06014 Montone Perugia, Italy
+39 075 930 6521
10.
GHLearner | November 8, 2021 at 2:53 am
What a wonderful experience you had here. I’ve heard the term mushroom hunting before. 🙂
11.
plaridel | November 8, 2021 at 4:19 pm
gabi:
you should try it sometime. 🙂
12.
GHLearner | November 9, 2021 at 12:34 am
I used to mushroom-hunt a lot, but not for truffles. 🙂
13.
plaridel | November 10, 2021 at 10:52 am
gabi:
cool! 🙂
14.
GHLearner | November 11, 2021 at 7:16 am
It is very popular where I live. 🙂
15.
plaridel | November 11, 2021 at 1:25 pm
gabi:
awesome! 🙂