This particularly warm October, eight out of 10 white truffles unearthed by Carlo Olivero with his trusty 3-year-old dog Steel were dark, withered and dried out. “They are clearly signs of the temperatures,’’ Olivero said, holding one that he kept in his pocket. Alba, located in the northwestern region of Piedmont, has earned the moniker “white truffle capital of the world” for its particularly fragrant variety of truffle, its truffle fair each fall and its annual charity auction, which pushes prices of the tuber magnatum pico up into the stratosphere. “It has been a few years that we have been worrying about truffle production,” said Antonio Degiacomi, president of Italy’s national center for truffle studies. Through a carpet of wet autumn leaves and muddy earth, the dog picks up the sweet, distinctive aroma of a white truffle and signals his find by rapidly digging on the surface.

Source: Manila Times November 17, 2019 09:56 UTC