The truffle in Umbria

By Lorenzo Stramaccioni from Umbraflor.

The truffle is an underground mushroom. The truffle is a fruiting body of fungi belonging to the Tuber genus that carries out its entire life cycle underground (hypogeum). It must necessarily live in symbiosis with tree plants. It is formed by an external wall called peridium, which can be smooth or sculpted and of a variable color from light to dark.

There are four types of truffles which are the bianchetto truffle, the white truffle, the black truffle, the Scorzone truffle.

The truffle is a resource for the mountain areas because even today no technology has managed to find the truffle underground and therefore the only way is to find the truffle with the dog. The truffle creates numerous job opportunities especially in the mountains in the places where it is harvested because it is a food that is in demand all over the world. The business arises from sales but develops above all within restaurants. In fact, truffles are an indispensable ingredient in Mediterranean cuisine, but they are very popular food in America, Asia and China.

Numerous entrepreneurs have chosen the rural areas where truffles are harvested to start their high-level catering business by acquiring important Michelin certifications. Their dishes tell the story of their land and therefore they have included the truffle as the first main ingredient. But the business is not only that of the sale of truffles but it is also the sale of dogs to search for truffles, in fact in the mountain areas small dog farms were born that find truffles.

The truffle is a resource and must therefore be protected. It is important to be attentive to the protection and safeguarding of truffles because otherwise the natural truffle will disappear in the future.

For more information: Tuber Terrae – Area del monte Subasio