“Truffles – anyone who does not declare himself ready to leave Paradise or Hell for such a treat is not worthy to be born again.” – Maurice Goudeket, ‘Close to Colette’ (1955)

Some people hate them, some people are so obsessed they pay 1,000’s of euros for them. Naturally I am talking about truffles. While, I didn’t think it was possible to overload on truffles, but I suppose I was wrong. In one day in the marvelous land that is Marche, I got a true 360 degree truffle experience. In fact, so much so that I not only saw how it was found, color and type variations – but I also tried copious amounts of it and had it rubbed on my face. Yep, I am 100% serious.

 So let’s go on a truffle photo adventure where the tools you need are an umbrella, a large appetite {always true for me} and perhaps only in my case – an alarm clock.

We embarked from  La Querceta di Marnacchia. for our truffle adventure on a rainy, windy day. Spot the bright enthusiasm on my partner’s faces as we all fought for the least broken umbrella.

Where were we off to? First stop was beautiful agriturismo Il Vecchio Tasso, to learn how truffle dogs are trained from our friendly teacher, Matt. Whose last name I must mention is actually beer. A good start I would say!

An English transplant to the land of Marche, this is a guy who is just as passionate about his area of Italy  as animal rights and it shows. His dog’s named is tequila and is of the race – lagotto romagnolo, great truffle dogs because of their good temperament and quick learning skills. Though it should be said that any dog in theory can be a truffle dog (or pig) due to their natural abilities for sniffing.

I really appreciated that Matt employs methods that cause no harm to the dog, which unfortunately can be the case in Italy with animal rights not always being enforced. He showed us around the area surrounding Il Vecchio Tasso and mamma mia, they live in a virtual paradise for animals {and people}. I saw dogs galore, chickens, a crazy turkey and some evil geese.

Next task was picking up some fresh ricotta at a local dairy farm for our lunch and then heading back to our cozy country house to embark on a gastronomic feast of the senses.

We dined with two local professional truffle hunters that shaved down the delicious black and white truffles you see pictured above. They made a fresh delicious truffle oil for the ricotta and a perfect risotto with shaved white truffles. All washed down with crisp white local wine. The icing on the cake was the scrambled eggs topped with truffles. I don’t think I have ever tasted something so good. To say we were in heaven, would be an understatement. 

We all needed a walk after eating so much so we put our wellies back on, picked up our broken umbrellas and headed into the woods to look for truffles. How long did it take to find some with truffle expert Roy and his dog? Approxmentely five minutes – how can I hire this guy? 

Possibly the most unique activity of the day was a special truffle facial that they organized for us. We had a bit of a break and I decided that I deserved a nap. Of course this means I totally overslept to the point where they were knocking on my door and calling me to wake me up from my truffle-induced slumber. Woops! Luckily for me, I got to enjoy 15 minutes of heaven from the massage specialist with products infused with truffles. Despite the intial snafu, it was the perfect way to wind down the day.

Honestly, how much truffles can one person handle in a day? Me, a lot! This was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had in Italy and I will be forever grateful. I really appreciate the deeper knowledge I now have about this food that I love so much since now I will enjoy it even more. Marche is THE place to go if you want a truly awesome truffle experience among bountiful nature and friendly people. #Sibillinisegreti was my time to experience this all first hand.

Next time I will be disovering the beautiful town of Amandola in Marche. Beautiful and home to a very unique Christ statue. Stay tuned!