Stories
White Alba truffle, the night of the trifolau
It is hunted in the dark, in silence, with a dog and a small spade. The most fragrant treasure of the Langhe isn't farmed: you wait for it, listen for it, find it.
In the Langhe, autumn has a precise scent. It arrives when the vineyards have already given up their grapes and the fog begins to rise from the valley floors: a smell of damp earth, of leaves, of something you can't name until you meet it on a plate of tajarin. It is the white Alba truffle, Tuber magnatum Pico, and around here it isn't just an ingredient. It's a way of being in the world.
Who the trifolau are
The trifolau is the truffle hunter. He goes out at night or at first light, when the woods are empty and scents travel better through the cold air. With him he has a dog trained for years, a stick and the vanghetto, the small spade he digs with without harming the roots. Good spots are revealed to no one: they are handed down from father to son, and sometimes not even confessed within the family.
Truffles can't be farmed. They grow where the woodland is healthy, where oaks, poplars, willows and limes have found their balance with the soil.
That is why every truffle tells of a place. Its irregular shape, its colour ranging from ochre to hazel, its inner veining: everything depends on the tree it grew in symbiosis with and the soil that fed it. No two are alike, and the price changes every week, as in an ancient market.
When and how to enjoy it
The harvest season runs roughly from late September to late January; the exact dates are set each year by the Region. In October and November Alba fills up for the International White Truffle Fair, founded in 1929, and the surrounding hills become one great table.
The golden rule is simple: white truffle is never cooked. It is gently brushed, kept for a few days in a glass jar wrapped in kitchen paper, and shaved raw, at the last moment, over simple hot dishes that let its aroma speak: tajarin with butter, fried eggs, hand-chopped raw beef, fonduta.
Joining a hunt
The best way to understand it is to walk beside a trifolau. Follow the dog between rows of hazel trees, watch it stop, sniff, dig with its paws until the man stops it with a pat and finishes the job by hand. It is a slow ritual of patience and respect, and it says more about these hills than any guidebook.
Among LangheMyFood experiences you'll find outings in the woods with people who have hunted truffles all their lives, followed by a tasting at a farmhouse. And when the shop opens, we'll bring to your home the flavours that frame the truffle.
