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A Truffle Hunt In Provence
A Cautionary Tale of Thieves, Horny Pigs, and Expensive Tubers
SECRECY IS EVERYTHING
We met Johann Pepin at ‘Les Pastras‘, his sprawling organic farm located on a desolate mountain top near the Provencal village of Cadenet under the cloak of secrecy. He cautioned us that “thieves were everywhere”, before instructing us to lock our car doors and gather down below. I must admit I felt a bit uneasy as he slipped a black hood loosely over my head, gently guiding me into the back of an unmarked black van.
Moments later we arrived at the edge of an unnamed field in an unnamed town in an unnamed country for what was surely going to be an epic truffle hunt. Such is the way with truffle hunters where secrecy is everything.
Secrecy is also common. The exact locations of the parcels of dirt where truffles are uncovered is often guarded from even close friends because a select patch of forest can often translate into a consistent source of wealth over a lifetime. — excerpt from Ryan Jacobs, ‘The Dark Side of the Truffle Trade’, The Atlantic January 15th, 2014
THE TRUFFLE SPEECH
We sat huddled together on wobbly benches still shaken by our experiences. In front of us were several neat rows of immature oak trees standing resolutely above the brûléed ground. A line of drip irrigation tubing acted as a buffer between Johann, the trees, and us. Lending the feeling that we were more at a museum exhibit than out in a working field. I began to wonder if Johann and his wife Lisa had installed vibration sensors to protect their trees as museums do for their priceless works.
Johann broke the tension with a humorous introduction punctuated with several very interesting anecdotes about all things truffle. It started with a five-decade history of his family’s wonderful 27-acre farm; home to several different varieties of fruit trees (apricots, cherries, plums, apples, pears, pomegranates, figs, almonds, and hazelnuts), grapevines, olive trees, and even beehives. And ended with an in-depth understanding of truffles.
HOW TO INOCULATE A TREE
Johann delved deep into the quasi-science behind inoculated truffle trees…
