Tartufi Neri - Bonafide Truffle Hunters!

The region of Umbria is blessed with the perfect conditions for growing truffles of all kinds, and we were lucky enough to learn all about it. We joined our friends Tony and Chris in the small town of Citerna just close to Montone for a guided truffle hunt with a company called Tartufi Bianconi. This was one activity we had our hopes up to do since leaving Vancouver so we were really excited to get our truffle hunt on! From what little we knew of truffles, our impression was that they are very delicious, precious (=expensive), very hard to find, and that hunters use pigs or dogs to 'hunt' for them. We were partly right.

Before we embarked on the hunt we learned a few key things about Umbrian truffle hunting:

1. In Umbria, they use dogs to hunt for truffles. This is because their noses are just as good as pigs, but while both dogs and pigs can get overzealous about their 'find' so that some try to eat them, it's a lot easier to pull a dog off a tasty truffle than it is to wrestle a pig.

2. Truffles can't be cultivated, but are the result of perfect mineral and soil combinations that nurture the growth of the precious fungus underground at the base of oak and hazelnut trees.

3. There are several different types of truffles, each with their own season. We were there in time for the end of the summer black, known as the "people's truffle", because they are easier to find and more prolific compared to the other more elusive (and more expensive) winter white & winter black. In winter white and winter black truffle seasons hunting is fierce business, where good truffle spots are secret and coveted, and where some hunters even resort to poisoning each other's dogs! A kilogram of precious winter white truffle can sell for as much as $20,000!

Off we went into the woods with Cecilia, our young Italian/English translator, and Tony and Chris to join the small group and three truffle hunters and two dogs, Emma, the younger one, and Sandy, a little older and more experienced. Ten steps in and the dogs were off! Each following her own nose (they use females because their sense of smell is better for finding and protecting their pups) and her own technique, Emma and Sandy wasted no time in hunting down those little black tasty nuggets.


"Sandy Qua!"

Within a minute Emma had found her first one. Emma's technique was to sniff out the truffle, scuff away the leaves, dig down to it and lay down on top of the area to protect it. Sandy, on the other hand, would dig down to find her truffle treasure, and if her hunter was too far behind she'd seize the opportunity to swallow that funghi down! Sometimes he made it there in time to pry it out of her mouth...Mmm perfect ingredients for a Tartufi Tagliatelle con Doggy Breath.





It really was an exciting and hilarious experience with the dogs running off, the hunters following them, and those of us in the group trying to keep up, splitting off to follow one of the dogs from one precious truffle discovery to another. Our perception that truffles would be hard to find was proved so very wrong by Sandy and Emma and the fruitful soil of the Umbrian countryside. We collected upwards of 20 truffles in just shy of an hour!





Our truffle haul was delivered to the Tartufi Bianconi store and workshop in Citta Di Castello where we all met for a cooking demonstration and lunch. Gabriella was our host there and was so delightful. Warm, welcoming, informative and a darn fine chef when it came to preparing her truffle dishes. We sipped on Prosecco and watched her prepare a few tasty truffle crostinis with their truffle products ranging from white truffle butter, prepared summer black truffle and porcini mushroom sauce, fresh, sliced summer black truffle sauteed in garlic and olive oil, and winter black truffle spread. And that was just a taster to start! After that Gabriella sat us down for a 6-course lunch, each course delicately highlighting the different truffle flavours. It was unforgettable!


Gabriella in her kitchen


Bowl full of treasure...clean, fresh summer black truffles. I think the one we pried from Sandy's mouth is on the bottom left


Truffled Flan


Homemade ravioli and polenta, with truffles of course!

At the end of lunch we were all issued a certificate in our name qualifying us as bonafide truffle hunters...a nice touch. If we could have brought some truffles home we would have, but the summer black ones only stay fresh for 10 days. So we settled for a sweet consolation, leaving Tartufi Bianconi with a bag full of truffled goodies including the white truffle butter, truffle honey (so good with cheese!), and the black truffle and porcini mushroom sauce. Cozy, rainy, winter Vancouver dinners at home will be a little tastier this year!

Two Sunny Weeks in Italy's Countryside

In Rome we picked up our rental car and drove to Umbria, the green heart of Italy right next to Tuscany, known for its hilltop medieval towns, truffles and sagrantino wines. We stayed at a small countryhouse or "agritourismo" as they are called in Italy, named L'Ariete, just below the small town of Montone. L'Ariete is run by a very hard-working, friendly and dedicated couple from Austria, Andreas and Martina. We booked our apartment at L'Ariete for two weeks to use as a home base to discover the regions of Umbria and Tuscany, but found that the days we spent at L'Ariete were as fun and memorable as any of our day trips away from there.




Kitchen and dining room where we spent many evenings cooking and enjoying wine




The beautiful alfresco dining area at L'Ariete where we enjoyed Martina's wonderful dinners and many sunny caprese salad lunches


Pathway to Montone

Firstly, the people we met at L'Ariete were what made it special. Our hosts Andreas and Martina, were always smiling and despite their long to-do lists (clean the pool, feed the sheep, drive to Rome or Florence for pick ups, harvest grapes, prepare dinner for guests, laundry, etc.) they were always willing to stop for a chat with us. Also staying at L'Ariete while we were there were two wonderful couples who became our good friends. Tony and Chris from Portland (so close to home, they're daughter goes to school at UBC!) were so much fun and we bonded over many conversations about delicious food and wine. We also got to know Udo and Dagmar, a couple from Hamburg, Germany who are blind, but clearly live life to its fullest. We were humbled and amazed on several occasions by Udo and Dagmar and learned a lot from them.


Us with Tony and Chris from Portland


Dagmar and Udo from Hamburg

In addition to enjoying the wonderful meals Martina made for us at her in-house restaurant at L'Ariete, we often made dinner in our apartment with ingredients straight from their garden. Although end of the season, we found several tomatoes and eggplants to cook up with pasta for dinner, caprese salads for lunch, and watermelons and figs to enjoy for breakfast. These were some of our favourite meals in Umbria. And yes, Mitchell ate lots of tomatoes! And for the most part, I think he enjoyed them!




Mmm, burrata from the market and tomatoes from the garden


Fresh tomatoes and basil from the garden in our pasta for dinner

We were so very lucky to have amazing weather the whole time we stayed in Umbria. For 13 out of 14 days we had sun and 25-28C weather during the days, which meant the pool was still open. Normally, a 68-72F pool would not be my cup of tea, but for some reason we embraced it, swimming about a kilometre most days. Must have had something to do with the beautiful sun, the fact that we were surrounded by the rolling green hills of the Italian countryside, and wanting to feel somewhat productive for at least half an hour a day after several indulgent weeks of travelling. We swam right up until October 6th!


Rachel doing her daily laps in the pool, joined by Udo and Dagmar

L'Ariete's land is home to grape vines that are about 40-50 years old. And while we were there they were ripe to be harvested. It's funny, planning for our trip we were hoping to volunteer at a winery in France or Italy for harvest time but didn't manage to line anything up, and then by chance Andreas mentioned he was going to tackle his vines on his own. Eagerly, we volunteered to help. Harvesting with Andreas was definitely a unique experience. He and Martina had only been operating L'Ariete since December, so they have no idea what kinds of white and red grapes are growing there, or how to make wine out of them yet. It was a very special first harvest to be a part of, and we have no doubt that in the years to come they will make some delicious wines, jams and jellies out of these grapes.






Mitchell and Andreas in the vines with Montone up the hill in the background

Some additional highlights from our day trips to surrounding villages in the photos below. More churches, art and history than we can sum up in a post!


Trevi - our first market we hit up on our arrival


Gubbio - meticulously preserved medieval village


Sienna's stunning Duomo, inside and out


Sienna's massive central piazza


Apparently, they grow them big in Sienna!


Terni's man-made waterfall, built around 300 BC

One of our favourite cultural sights we visited in Umbria was an exhibition of the works of abstract expressionist and conceptual artist, Alberto Burri. After seeing beautiful and amazing medieval and renaissance art and architectural examples in the churches frescoes and museums, of Italy, it was enriching to experience some contemporary art. His works are housed in two different exhibition spaces, one in the town of Citta Di Castello, and one just outside the town in converted tobacco-drying barns. Burri used one small area of these hangar-sized spaces as his studio, and once inside you can understand why...his works are huge! A native of Citta Di Castello, Burri's work has been exhibited all over the world and credited with influencing many contemporary artists. I think our favourite were works using his 'cretto' technique. You can see it in the black artwork to the right of gallery photo we plucked off the internet, although it doesn't do it justice.


The large tobacco-drying barns exhibiting Alberto Burri works in his hometown of Citta di Castello


Gallery space, and one of Burri's Cretto Nero works

We left L'Ariete and Montone with new friends, a case full of wine from the area, jars of wine jelly and chutney that Martina made from our harvest, amazing memories and hopeful plans to see our friends again sometime in the future. We have a couple more posts to come sharing our adventures in Umbria and Tuscany, including a very memorable truffle hunt and several wine tastings.

When in Rome!

From Crete we took an easy flight to Rome. We spent four days there but definitely could have spent much longer with all it had to offer. We did, of course manage to see several of the major must-do tourist sights. For most we opted to avoid ticket line ups and view them from the outside. We loved Rome because in a few days you can walk around and see most of the famous sights (sans fanny packs, sun hats, and runners). You can experience the pulsing urban city and its ancient ruins all at once.


View of St. Peter's Basilica from the bank of the Tiber River


We walked to a great vantage point to see The Roman Forum. The view from here really gave you an idea of the position and scope of the Forum.


The Trevi fountain is beautiful and we walked by it by day and at night. Rome really is romantic at night. Most areas are pedestrian only, buskers are very talented, usually playing the violin or accordian, or belting out opera, and the streets and monuments are beautifully lit up.


The Pantheon

We went late afternoon to the Vatican City and managed to squeeze in to see St. Peter's Basilica without waiting long at all in line. As far as churches go, being the richest and most popular church in the world, it was worth seeing. Michaelangelo's sculpture, the Pieta, was also amazing. Unfortunately we were too late that day to get to the Vatican Museum to see Michaelangelo's materpiece in The Sistine Chapel. It was really the only attraction we were set on seeing for sure, so we were choked.




Michaelangelo's Pieta


The Colliseum

One of the most interesting things we saw was the keyhole view of St. Peter's Basilica from a Knights Templar building on Aventine Hill. You look through this small keyhole in a door through to an archway of trees lining a garden pathway, and far off in the distance you can see St. Peter's Basilica perfectly framed by the arch of greenery. It's a crazy, precise perspective! When we went it was the middle of the day, sunny, quiet and there was no one around. You really did feel like you were 'spying' on the Pope :)




Photograph with our camera right in the keyhole


Another great view from Aventine Hill

For a real bargain we stayed in a room in a flat in the Testaccio area. Our host was a woman named Flavia, originally from Buenos Aires, now living in Rome with her teenage daughter. The place was small and cozy, and turned out to suit us great. The Testaccio area is one with a long history. It used to be the slaughterhouse neighbourhood, but in recent years has been gentrifying, and so is a mix of gritty authenticity and urban chic. This area provided some of our more memorable experiences in Rome.

Testaccio is home to one of the largest and best markets in Rome, where actual Romans go to buy their weekly produce, cheese, meats and other random items. Also in Testaccio is the famous Volpetti brothers shop. The Volpetti's are fine producers of cured meats, cheeses and specialty food products, and so proud and hospitable when you walk through their door. The shop is usually jammed, but we were paid great attention and offered several samplings of pecorino cheeses, salamis, lemon and cinnamon spreads, truffle salt, and aged balsamic vinegar. We made a note to come back for a real shop there for a few goodies before we left Rome.



Another unique and entertaining highlight of the Testaccio area was Monte Testaccio. The hill itself was originally created almost 2000 years ago from thousands of olive oil containers dumped here as waste. In later Roman times the hill was used for an annual sporting event. Wooden carts filled with pigs were hauled to the top and then raced to the bottom. After collecting the winnings from their bets the pigs were collected and they celebrated with a feast. In more recent times slaughterhouses and other commercial stores carved their shops into the sides of the hill. And today it is Rome's most popular club scene among locals. There are all kinds of bars pumping dance tunes, staging live bands, DJ sets, offering massive patios, or beach themed bars. You can walk the full circle of the base of the hill and bar hop from one to the other (if you can get past the line ups!). Clearly a regular haunt of young people, the party goes on at Monte Testaccio until 6:00am (we made it to 3:30am!).

We ate some fabulous food in Rome. Our favourite lunches were at Fiaschetteria and Riccioli Cafe. Fiaschetteria provided simple, fresh food and we enjoyed an arugula and tomato salad, antipasto plate and a bowl of pasta with black truffles grated on top. Riccioli Cafe restaurant was a delicious sampling of fresh, well prepared seafood. We started with the plate of Octopus and it was the best we've ever had. Tender, slightly salty and delicious. We followed that with a freshly made pasta with mussels and clams. Yum.





We had a few cocktails, and dinner one night in the Trastevere area. This is a happening spot and frequented by tourists and locals. We could see ourselves having a lot of fun in this area if we spent more time in Rome.


Here's a link to more Rome photos: More Photos

Crete with the Alters

Our ferry arrived to Crete about an hour late, but thankfully our rental car was waiting for us. We were just about to hit the road, when Mitchell and Josh were called upon for their Herculean strength (hee hee Greek pun intended) to help some locals push a car whose battery had died out of the parking lot. Heroes! :) They also did a stellar job at driving through and navigating sketchy highways, limited signage, and even sketchier and convoluted directions to our villa, while Claire and I entertained ourselves in the backseat with 80s and 90s movie and soundtrack trivia. Not sure Mitchell and Josh were as entertained!

Arriving at our villa in Almyrida in the pitch-black after midnight, we were a little disappointed with the lower standard of the interior compared to some of the shiny Westernized places we'd stayed at so far. Some of the "highlights" were the relentless ants around the kitchen sink and counters, our bathroom with the jimmy-rigged shower curtain held up by a chain from the shower rod to the heater (safe?!), Josh and Claire's bathroom stench, and the overall stale late 70s aura going on. Waking up the next morning however, to our own private pool, side terrace with a fuschia Oleander canopy (where we enjoyed several lazy lunches!), ripe fig and lime trees, and a sprawling terrace perched on a cliff overlooking the clear turquoise waters of Almyrida bay and its beaches -- our opinion of the place overall quickly changed.





The town of Almyrida is quite truly a very new destination as far as tourism goes. Prior to 1980 it was a tiny fishing village with 60 residents, until a woman from Brussels opened up a cafe there. According to her story (we read in a menu) her cafe was the catalyst that began developing Almyrida as we experienced it. Now, still a small and beautiful beachside town, its main street is lined with about 10 restaurants, cafes, bars, and a couple small hotels, and overrun by British tourists. We anticipated feasting on tasty authentic Greek fare, but the Almyrida menus boasted Fish & Chips with "mushy peas" and Sunday English Roast. It was disappointing, but we managed to seek out mousaka, gyros, and some Cretan specialty dishes.


Friendly servers from our favourite dinner spot, Aeraki.


We shared many after dinner Raki's - whether we liked them or not!

We spent the majority of our week enjoying long breakfasts on our terrace overlooking the beautiful bay, suntanning, swimming in the ocean or our pool, reading (a lot!), sipping on tasty adult beverages and grooving to a few favourite playlists (Thanks Emily for your Aritzia tunes!). We did venture out for a few day trips, one of which was to the famous Elefonisi Beach in South Western Crete. On Crete's rugged coast, in a protected area, it was one of the most beautiful, crystal blue water and pristine beaches we'd ever seen. With the promised 'pink' sand too! Thankfully Josh drove as it was a trecharious drive through a narrow gorge on the way there, and a high cliff drive along the ocean on the way home. He handled our Fiat and those cliffs like a local (although we did need help from "Greek Ray Charles" with directions after we got lost in some olive groves).






Famous pink sand of Elefonisi




Sun setting on the hills of Western Crete on our drive home

Another big day out was an early morning trip to Chania for the robust Saturday market. A 12th-century Venetian port, Chania used to be like Venice with canals, but they were filled in a long time ago. We chose a great fishmonger (that originally caught our attention because he was throwing fresh sardines to the local cats on the roof) who helped us select a sea bream and a sea bass for dinner. He cleaned them up and gave us a lesson and recipe on how to cook them: stuffed with sliced fennel, and rubbed with lemon zest, saffron (called crocus in Greece), and sea salt all over, wrapped in tinfoil and on the BBQ for 15 minutes.






Lamb or rabbit for dinner?


A local Chanian spearing an octopus for dinner!

After a healthy happy hour the boys man-handled the dinner preparation and got the charcoal bbq fired up, while Claire and I played a game in the kitchen we invented called Baguette Ball with the evening's loaf of bread and a lime from our tree. With the recipe we'd been given we rubbed the fish and stuffed a couple slices of lemon and tomatoes inside (couldn't find fennel anywhere!). The fish turned out perfectly. It was so fresh and delicious and with a great smoky flavour from the bbq. We paired it with a greek salad (obviously), saffron rice and fresh bread.







It was an awesome week with the Alters full of a ton of laughs, good food, tasty drinks, and hours of relaxation. We were sad to split when the week finished. They caught a flight to Istanbul and we went off to Rome for four days. We're looking forward to following their adventures on their blog and seeing them back home in just over a month.


Swimming in the beautiful water below our villa




Here's a link to more Greece photos: More Photos