Truffle Hunting Using Pigs Or Dogs?

Truffles come in a number of different colours and seasonal varieties and are one of the most highly prized of all ingredients in gourmet cooking.

One of the first things I ever learnt about truffles is that the intrepid explorers who went crashing through the undergrowth to sniff these culinary diamonds out and reveal their whereabouts to truffle hunters, was in fact the humble pig. Before then I never really considered pigs to be good at anything or to fulfill any function other than putting bacon on my plate. Pigs are incredibly intelligent and have a sense of smell that can detect the pungent aroma of the highly sought after black truffles that lie deep beneath the dark moist soils.

Pigs are in fact so intelligent that they realized that relinquishing a prize as mouthwateringly precious and as difficult to find as a black truffle would be ridiculous beyond its supreme intellect. And so they would promptly eat them. Can you for a second imagine the constant frustration of the truffle hunter in trying to deal with a stubborn pig who, as fantastic his/her black truffle finding abilities were, just wouldn’t stop taking a slobbery bite out of them? And so it was with a mite of disappointment that I came to learn that the majority of truffle hunters have locked their pigs up in their sties (or worse) in favour of the truffle hunting dog.

Dogs do not like white or black truffles. Dogs do not take a ‘finder’s fee’ from the flesh of the truffle like pigs tended to. Dogs only want to make their owners happy and perhaps a treat after unearthing a truffle would be nice too, thanks. You see, dogs also have an incredible sense of smell and if trained to recognize the tell-tale musky and pungent aroma of the black truffle, make for wonderful truffle hunters (and walking companions!) A dog’s enthusiasm for contribution and exercise is contagious and I’m sure it has kept many a truffle hunter from throwing in the towel a few hours into an expedition.

And finally, it’s a lot easier to get a dog in the back of Fiat Panda 4*4 than a fully grown Pig!

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