Visit Italy: Truffle Hunting

One of the most amazing experiences I've had while in Italy was Truffle Hunting.  Arranged through Castello di Bossi, where we stayed while in Tuscany, we went on a truffle hunting expedition with a couple of truffle hunters and their truffle hunting dogs, and it was simply such a memorable adventure.

We were warned ahead of time that because of the dry weather, we may not have much luck in finding truffles, and if we did find them, they'd probably be small, but we were totally eager just to go on the experience.

The hunting dogs were incredible.  They are so trained and their sense of smell so fine-tuned, that as soon as they are let loose, they start hunting and digging.

Most of the truffles found were small and / or dried up, but there were many truffles that were of decent size.

Once the dogs start digging, the truffle hunters start doing their thing, digging around to extricate the truffle, smelling and examining it before deeming it suitable for harvesting.  

We (or the dogs, rather) found a truffle the size of a tennis ball!

We ended up with a pretty nice haul of truffles, which were used in our dinner that night.

Dessert is not a big thing in Italy (or at least in Tuscany), but they do eat cheese with truffles to end the night.  How decadent!

Truffle Hunting in Italy was one of the most amazing experiences ever!