Truffle Hunting
Truffle Hunting in Central Italy In central Italy, every year, thousands of tourists and locals alike flock to the mountain locations for their fantastic array of outdoor activities, including mountain biking, horseback riding, rock-climbing, hiking and bird-watching, as well as to enjoy a breath-taking respite from the madness and bustle of the city.
One of the most spectacular mountain ranges borders Le Marche and Umbria, the Sibillini Mountain National Park.
However, it is not only the tourists that have come to appreciate the offerings of this stunning landscape.
The Sibillini Mountain National Park as well as the surrounding Le Marche and Umbria regions are known for their incredibly wonderful fresh truffles.
This makes it extremely popular for truffle hunting.
During the Summer the park is busy with Truffle Hunters scouring the countryside in search of Tuber Aestivum, the famous Black Summer Truffles.
The rich soils of the Sibillini Mountain National Park and surrounding area provide the perfect growing grounds for what is regarded to be the very finest black summer truffles that Europe - and one might even dare say - the world has to offer.
Generations of truffle hunters along with their highly trained pure-bred Lagotta Romagnala sniffing dogs flock seasonally to this veritable summer truffles Mecca in search of these elusive culinary prizes.
Unlike their white cousins, black summer truffles grow just beneath the soil surface, a mere matter of centimetres away from the thick leaf litter that blankets the floor of the Sibillini Mountain National Park's forested areas.
The close proximity of the black summer truffles to the surface combined with their characteristic pungent aroma makes these prizes easy for the truffle hunting dogs to locate once they have caught their scent.
However, the black summer truffles remain elusive because of their scarcity.
This doesn't seem to faze the intrepid truffle hunter who strives to cater for a world-wide demand for the delicious earthy, garlic and almost sweet flavoured black summer truffles: A demand that far outweighs the supply.
One of the most spectacular mountain ranges borders Le Marche and Umbria, the Sibillini Mountain National Park.
However, it is not only the tourists that have come to appreciate the offerings of this stunning landscape.
The Sibillini Mountain National Park as well as the surrounding Le Marche and Umbria regions are known for their incredibly wonderful fresh truffles.
This makes it extremely popular for truffle hunting.
During the Summer the park is busy with Truffle Hunters scouring the countryside in search of Tuber Aestivum, the famous Black Summer Truffles.
The rich soils of the Sibillini Mountain National Park and surrounding area provide the perfect growing grounds for what is regarded to be the very finest black summer truffles that Europe - and one might even dare say - the world has to offer.
Generations of truffle hunters along with their highly trained pure-bred Lagotta Romagnala sniffing dogs flock seasonally to this veritable summer truffles Mecca in search of these elusive culinary prizes.
Unlike their white cousins, black summer truffles grow just beneath the soil surface, a mere matter of centimetres away from the thick leaf litter that blankets the floor of the Sibillini Mountain National Park's forested areas.
The close proximity of the black summer truffles to the surface combined with their characteristic pungent aroma makes these prizes easy for the truffle hunting dogs to locate once they have caught their scent.
However, the black summer truffles remain elusive because of their scarcity.
This doesn't seem to faze the intrepid truffle hunter who strives to cater for a world-wide demand for the delicious earthy, garlic and almost sweet flavoured black summer truffles: A demand that far outweighs the supply.
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