Truffling for black gold

Sasha Dorey and her Italian water hounds are hot on the trail of our very own home-grown truffles

The night before he arrived at our house, I dreamt of Tom, the truffle hunter. I had read about him a year before and plucked up the courage to ring his number.

Together we went to various little woods I thought might contain truffles. It was in the very last hazel copse, not far from the sea, that his white woolly dog dug found a truffle the size of a pea.

I was instantly hooked and in celebration we feasted on lobster soup and fresh local prawns. 15 years later, with three woolly dogs of my own, I am proud to call myself a truffle hunter.

Astonishingly, I discovered that there were truffles growing in my garden before I made my call to Tom. At that time, I had two dogsGeorge and Eric. To help train them, Tom sent me some of the dried truffles he kept in his coat pocket –something I found quite bizarre. Now I am seldom without one.

Alas, the training wasn’t successful. George, my biddable labrador, was too old and there was nothing for Eric the terrier to kill. Could I get a woolly dog for myself? I wanted a Lagotto Romagnolo Water Hound – the breed of retriever from the Romagno region of Italy, renowned for their hunting abilities.

These were extremely rare at the time but I was lucky enough to get a puppy from an unplanned litter.

Tom provided more samples. And so I could identify the most enthusiastic truffle lover, which turned out to be Flukey Sukie. I named her Dulcie after the seaweed of which I am so fond.

For Dulcie’s training, I bought fresh truffles. Finding instructions to train a dog to sniff out truffles wasn’t easy, but eventually I stumbled across a useful Italian article on the subject, thank God.

Little pieces of truffle should be wrapped in clean rags and then trussed up with string to create a

Strufion. These are distributed around the house under cushions and behind curtains while the dog is contained in another room.

Once released, the dog uses her amazing snout to sniff them out. The game then moves outdoors.

Dulcie loved it and learnt quickly. Lagotto are highly intelligent and at just three months old, as I took her into the garden for a last pee, she started to dig.

She found three truffles in ten minutes. That we had truffles in our garden was astonishing enough; that I had wanted to become a truffle hunter, not knowing this, had to be a sign. And now Dulcie was a fullyfledged truffle hound, completely ready for action.

So it was time to start hunting in earnest. I bought paper maps, downloaded soil apps, hopped in the Land Rover with treats, snacks and the dog, and set off. For hours, weeks and months, we drove around the county until I got a good feeling for potential truffle habitats.

Obviously I nearly always needed permission from landowners, but we found some good sites. I reported our adventures to Tom and started to write on his blog as ‘trufflehuntress’.

Tragically, Dulcie died aged only three. We think it was Lyme disease, though I only found one tick on her and it was hiding in her ear. Dogs and humans alike, we all need to take great care not to get bitten by these little buggers.

I imported another dog from Italy and we collected Romina from Heathrow. She was very traumatised and my husband couldn’t touch her for three months but she was a quick learner and soon picked up where Dulcie left off.

And then came Ralf. Bred by Tom and nurtured by his son, he arrived full of confidence and playfulness. Romina, known as Minnie, adores him. And my garden, by now a truffle nursery, has made training the dogs very easy.

Over the years, I have hosted a few truffle events, which mainly revolve around cooking. Bringing out the subtle flavour of our most popular and common English truffle (tuber uncinatum or Burgundy truffle) is challenging, and simplicity is certainly the best course.

Finely grating truffle into warm, melted butter is the most delicious way to eat it, either poured over chicken, fish or - my favourite - crab.

As I live by the sea, I have ample supplies. Truffles also like to be beside the sea for the salty air and chalky cliffs.

Along the way, I have made many good friends and had only the odd contretemps. Truffles are so desirable that they can lead to deceitfulness and hunting them has become much more commonplace over the last few years. Prices can range from £700-900 per kilo and many more of us are seeking the treasure now - but as far as I’m aware no-one has yet resorted to poisoning their competitor’s dogs.

I have planted my own truffle orchard which, as yet, has only produced a few very expensive hazel nuts. But my dream remains - to have visitors see the dogs at work –and enjoy our delicious potted crab with warm truffle butter on toast.

For more information about truffles go to www.fine and wild.com