It was a small restaurant like home. The flowers, the candles and the red goblets were placed on the red and white checkered covers. After telling the waiter, “We will eat whatever you recommend,” the response we received was “I can serve you truffle pasta”. This tiny trattoria, with a simple but cute decoration, was inherited from his family. I was very hungry. “Can you bring it now?” he smiled and replied: “Piano, piano… The slower the tastier.” And he said that would serve us pasta as a starter “primi piatti”, but he would bring us an aperetivo plate and house wine first.

While we finished the cheese, salami and prosciutto on our plate with our wine, our pasta arrived. It smelled like musk to my nose. My husband Tarık’s first reaction was, “You’re so hungry, you’ll like whatever they bring you now”. But when the plates were placed in front of us, the different aroma mixed with the steam of the hot pasta fascinated him as well. Our plate consisted of homemade tagliatelle pasta sautéed in butter, thinly sliced ​​raw white truffle and parmesan cheese. At the first bite, I realized that this pasta was the most amazing food I had ever eaten. How could such an ordinary dish have such a fascinating effect?

Trattoria’s owner Andrea said that the secret of this effect lies in the unique flavor of the white mushroom sliced ​​into the pasta. Its name was Tartufo bianco. Latin for ‘pico magnatum’. Because it is very expensive, a diamond is also called a diamond. It is sold for 5 thousand 6 thousand euros per kilo.

Let’s hear more information from Andrea:

“It grows spontaneously under the soil by feeding on the roots of trees such as oak and hazelnut. Trained dogs are tasked with finding invisible mushrooms. In the past, this job was done by pigs with a good smell. But now they use dogs because of clever pigs who can smell and taste mushrooms. Collecting this mushroom is as difficult as finding it. Truffle pickers hit the roads between October and December. The best hunting time is after the rain. Because the smell of truffles is better due to the moistened soil. Dogs recognizing truffles by their distinctive intense scent could also find them easily. However, it is important to remove the fungus from the ground without damaging it! This relies on both the training of the dog and the timely and on-site intervention of the mushroom hunter.”

Andrea says he himself collects truffles from mid-November to mid-December. He explained why, “This period is the most ideal period for me. Because it is during this period that I find the most mature and aromatic ones.”

There are varieties of truffles in the world today. But the white Alba truffle found in the Piedmont region of Italy is considered very valuable because it is rarer and has a unique aroma. Andrea then offered us fonduta. This time it was accompanied by truffles, milk and butter, melted cheese and eggs.

After that, I started researching the history of the truffle with my usual habit. The history of such a rare item should have been special too! I was not wrong…