- Introduction: The Long Way To Florence
- Review: Etihad Business Class A350 (ORD-AUH)
- Review: Etihad Arrivals Lounge Abu Dhabi Airport (AUH)
- Review: Burj Al Arab Dubai (What An Experience!)
- Review: Bulgari Hotel Dubai, UAE
- Caviar All The Way To Bologna: My Emirates First Class Non-Review
- Review: Four Seasons Florence, Italy
- Truffle Hunting In Tuscany With Savini Tartufi
- Review: Masaccio Lounge Florence Airport (FLR)
- Review: Lufthansa First Class Lounge Munich Airport Satellite (MUC)
- Resisting Temptation In Lufthansa First Class
During our recent trip to Florence (where we stayed at the Four Seasons), we decided to go into the countryside for a truffle hunting experience. As someone who loves animals, truffles are about the only thing I’m down to “hunt.”
I wasn’t sure what exactly to expect from this activity, but we had an amazing time and learned a lot, and I can’t recommend it enough.
In this post:
Our experience with Savini Tartufi
Savini Tartufi is a family owned business that has been around for roughly 100 years. The company is based in the small town of Forcoli, roughly an hour outside of Florence (and when I say small town, I mean it — we did this activity on a Sunday, and I’m pretty sure we were basically the only people in town not at church).
We did Savini Tartufi’s four-hour truffle hunting experience, which retails for €140 per person. This includes an introduction to the world of truffles, a truffle hunting experience, and a lunch with a sickening quantity of truffles. That price includes everything, and even wine at lunch.
When we arrived at Savini Tartufi, we were welcomed by Luca, who would be guiding us through the whole experience. Luca is one of those people you can’t help but love. He had such a positive spirit, and viewed his job more as a hobby than as work, and that can’t help but put you in a good mood.
He started by explaining to us the different types of truffles. He then explained the business side of Savini Tartufi. While they do some of its own truffle hunting, they’re reeally in the business of buying and selling truffles, providing truffle hunting experiences (like what we were doing), and also selling products with truffles.
It’s fascinating how this works, as Savini Tartufi has contracts to provide truffles to all kinds of well known restaurants around the globe. Timing those shipments is complicated, and sometimes Luca is stuck driving long distances to deliver the truffles at just the perfect time (sometimes even to Milan Airport).
Savini Tartufi also has the Guinness World Record for the most expensive white truffle ever sold, at a cost of $330,000.
A fun truffle hunting expedition
After a brief introduction, it was time to go truffle hunting. At this point we were introduced to Fiuto, the dog that would be doing the truffle hunting today. As someone who loves the outdoors and likes dogs even more, it occurred to me at this point that maybe I’ve had the wrong career all along. I should’ve been a truffle hunter! No wonder Luca likes his job so much!
We drove around 10 minutes away to a forested area, where we parked and then started walking around.
At this point Luca sent Fuito on his search. How exactly do dogs get good at truffle hunting? Luca explained that when the dogs are puppies, they’re already exposed to truffle oil, and they’re even fed some of it, so it’s something they grow to love.
In turn, they get really good at sniffing out truffles in the forest. As you’d expect, the dog and their handler have a bit of an agreement, and it’s more of a game than anything. The dog hunts truffles, and when they find one, they get rewarded with a treat, rather than the truffle.
When we started this experience, I was skeptical, and thought “there’s no way this dog is just going to randomly find a truffle in the ground.” Well, about five minutes later, Fuito was digging in the dirt.
The idea is that you want the dog to get close to the truffle, without actually getting to it, because truffles are worth the most if they’re not damaged. So Luca has a device that’s intended to dig around the truffle.
Sure enough, after a minute of digging, the truffle was found. Luca got the truffle, and Fuito got a treat. It’s amazing how Fuito desperately digs for the truffle, but once it’s out of the ground, he wouldn’t dare eat it, but rather patiently waits for his treat.
And then it happened again, and again, and again. Over the course of an hour, Fuito found four truffles.
A decadent, truffle-filled lunch
After finishing truffle hunting, we headed back to Savini Tartufi for lunch.
We were invited to take a seat, and I loved how the placemats had information about the different kinds of truffles. We were offered some wine, coffee, etc., and then our feast began.
A huge quantity of truffles was placed on the table, and then with each course, truffle would be shaved onto our dishes from some of those truffles.
The meal began with bruschetta, cold cuts, and cheese, with truffle generously sprinkled on top.
Next up was the tagliolini pasta with fresh truffle.
The next course was fried egg with truffle.
Lastly, for dessert, was truffle cheesecake and chocolate with truffle.
I can’t even say how full we were at the end of this experience. It wasn’t even necessarily the quantity of the food, but just the richness of it all. We skipped dinner that evening.
Bottom line
If you go to Tuscany, I can’t recommend a truffle hunting experience like this enough. I knew very little about truffles prior to this experience, so it was cool to get an inside look at how this all works. If you’re like me and love dogs, you’ll appreciate this experience even more, as you’re basically just going on a nice walk with a super cute dog, and then you have a delicious lunch.
On top of that, Luca really made this experience so special. He was knowledgable, passionate, and so kind. I’m an introvert, and I don’t usually enjoy spending hours with a stranger, but he was such an interesting and positive person. I could listen to his stories and insights for hours.
Have any OMAAT readers done a truffle hunting experience like this? If so, what was your experience like?
Ben: “as someone who loves animals”
Also Ben: here’s a photo of pieces of a dead animal that I’m having for lunch
You either love animals and don’t want to have them killed or you don’t really love animals
Well, most of us pick and choose which animals we're OK being cruel to. For instance, you seem to have no problem being a complete dick to humans: wasting your energy trying to shame them. Guess you don't love animals, either.
Absolutely LOVE this. Adding it to my bucketlist. PLEASE post more of these experience reviews-we really appreciate it, and it adds to diverse content for the blog!
Based on your review, I must suggest when in Ireland, that you book the Irish Wolfhound experience. https://irishwolfhoundsireland.ie/
My initial reaction was, why would I pay someone to let me come along while they walk their dogs? So glad I read the reviews, which convinced me to try the experience. It was awesome! My husband loved it, too.
Hope you have more experiences when you travel. It is not just about reviewing the lounges, airlines, and hotels, but also about some unusual or non-touristy experiences.
It may be the nature of professional blogging such that there typically remains no time for experiences. If you're writing 4-6 posts a day, when does that leave time to go do things?
In August 2015 we had an absolutely fabulous cooking vacation at Tuscookany - Cooking Vacations at Torre del Tartufo. You can find more by googling International Kitchens.
Beside the wonders of staying inside a lovely Italian villa one of the delights was to go truffle hunting on their own property.
Tuscookany uses pigs for truffle hunting even though they are in Tuscany. The problem with some (all?) dogs is that they tend to...
In August 2015 we had an absolutely fabulous cooking vacation at Tuscookany - Cooking Vacations at Torre del Tartufo. You can find more by googling International Kitchens.
Beside the wonders of staying inside a lovely Italian villa one of the delights was to go truffle hunting on their own property.
Tuscookany uses pigs for truffle hunting even though they are in Tuscany. The problem with some (all?) dogs is that they tend to eat the truffle if they get a chance
The only sad part of the experience is that my wife hates the smell of truffles, let alone the taste, so the experience was lost on her. She was also on a very strong antibiotic and was prohibited from consuming alcohol on the entire trip including the 5th freedom business class flights from JFK-MXP and the wonderful pre-departure lounges in both locations.
Have done a couple truffle hunts connected to week long cooking classes in Italy. They are great fun and the dogs really enjoy the hunt. I read an article a few months back that some truffle hunters plant the truffles ahead of the tour so that the dogs are guaranteed to find some. So if you are going to go hunting make sure it is a true hunt with someone like Savini.
When we went with Luca in 2018, the dog’s name was Giotto. We had roughly the same experience except that several independent truffle hunters arrived at the store to sell truffles they had found. It was a truly unique experience. Glad you enjoyed it.
When we went with Luca in 2018, the dog’s name was Giotto. We had roughly the same experience except that several independent truffle hunters arrived at the store to sell truffles they had found. It was a truly unique experience. Glad you enjoyed it.
What breed was the dog, a Lagotto?
Love this!
Reminds me: Need more Winston!
In France, it is a pig who hunts for the truffle, usual black truffle instead the tuscany white one.
The delicacy travel section. Looking forward to it.
Truffle Hunting.....check
Force feeding Fois Gras goose ..... coming soon
Extract caviar without killing the fish so it can be extracted again ..... coming soon
By the way, how do you know the truffles are not pre planted underground?
Also " It’s amazing how Fuito desperately digs for the truffle, but once it’s out of the ground, he wouldn’t dare eat it, but rather patiently...
The delicacy travel section. Looking forward to it.
Truffle Hunting.....check
Force feeding Fois Gras goose ..... coming soon
Extract caviar without killing the fish so it can be extracted again ..... coming soon
By the way, how do you know the truffles are not pre planted underground?
Also " It’s amazing how Fuito desperately digs for the truffle, but once it’s out of the ground, he wouldn’t dare eat it, but rather patiently waits for his treat."
Answer: His treat tastes better than truffle, y'all been scammed by the food industry.
Very cool...adding this to my bucket list.
Love this! Can this be done any time of the year or just during truffle session?
A question about the ground portion of the trip: You went from Bologna to Florence to Forcoli to (?). How did you do this? Did you rent a car or did you use public transport? Did the owners of the tour provide transport from Florence?
This is incredibly cool! I’m shocked at how low the price is for the experience you get. This is 100% something I will seek out next time I’m in Florence/Tuscany!
Love this.
Great review, I would be interested in doing the same activity.
Thank you. Added to the bucket list!
@Ben- What this a private tour? Btw- hope this is a new trend and you branch out to reviewing experiences!
Am I the only person who dislikes the taste and finds them so overrated? I swear women in Miami will ask for them on any and every dish just to look cool/expensive
No, same here. I find the taste too overwhelming most of the time.
I don’t mind truffles, but I do find that most people who broadcast their love for them are desperately trying to flaunt or feign wealth.
This is my retirement dream! Ben - they typically use the lagotto romagnolo breed for these hunts, that appears to be what Fiuto is.
Can you keep the truffles found on your “hunt”?
@ JoeSchmo -- Hah, nope. There's quite a process they go through to clean them, etc. On top of that, they have to be stored at the right temperature, and consumed within a certain amount of time, so there wouldn't even be a practical way to enjoy them back at the hotel.
I know someone in Germany where you can train you own dog to go truffle hunting. Wouldn't that be something for your dog?
Did this in June of ‘19, the dog for my group was Giotto. It was great fun!