Livade Travel Guide

 JLBG Says:  Bronze record white truffle is great but does not taste ! Let us go back to real truffle for taste. Here, a cook is preparing a "Fritaja", scrambled eggs added with thinly cut truffles tastes better than a bronze truffle!Bronze record white truffle is great but does not... 

 JLBG Says:  Look on this close-up how the fritaja looks like. The white truffle is not really white but pale grayish-brownish. The slices of truffle appear as darker than the scrambled eggs. There is plenty of truffle in that delicious tartufata. Really worth the travel ! 

 JLBG Says:  Here a Television crew interviews and films Carlo Zigante for the News. I would not be surprised if that happened every weekend during the month of October as he owns the only company that trade and process white truffle in Istria. 

 JLBG Says:  On this picture, Carlo Zigante smells deeply the strong flavor of the big one ! When one knows how strong is the scent of a miserable 10 g white truffle, one cannot imagine how a 500 g truffle may scent! 

 JLBG Says:  The record truffle, shown here, was "only" a little more than 500 grams ! It was bought on auction by Carlo Zigante, here in the middle of the picture. The price of the white truffle depends of the market. During the Truffle days, it ranged from 12 kuna (2 euros) per gram... 

 JLBG Says:  2004 has not been a good year for the white truffle. There has not been enough rain when the truffles were supposed to grow. 1999 had been a very good year in Istria but since then, each year, the crop has been rather mean. 

 JLBG Says:  On most tables, the truffles are kept under a glass cover that allows seeing them but keeps the scent. For those who have never smelled the white truffle, it is very special and strong. Some find it has a garlic scent but the flavor is much richer and complex. 

 JLBG Says:  In another part of the showroom, several tables present truffles for sale. If you click on the picture, you will see the name of the merchant written over the table, behind Zdenka (VT Nikaenen) preparing herself to take a picture. The first who began to purchase, trade and... 

 JLBG Says:  Experts are busy looking at the white truffles, smelling them on every side, checking their firmness, evaluating their size, their color and noting everything on the "exam" sheet. The evaluation of each expert will be summed up to point out the single truffle winner and the... 

 JLBG Says:  On a long table, the best samples of white truffles were on show on silver trays, with an identification number, either alone for the largest samples or as batches when smaller. Single and batches were to compete separately. 

 JLBG Says:  The official opening ceremony of the "IVth White Truffle days" was held with speeches by organizers and local authorities. The whole ceremony was conducted by the lady on the right of the picture who presented, commented and animated the show, alternatively in Croat, in... 

 JLBG Says:  The dog seems to have identified a truffle at the foot of an oak. He begins digging with its paws and Mario is watching it so that it will not eat it! Istrian dogs used for truffle hunting are called “breks”. They have been trained since they were 2 month. They are... 

 JLBG Says:  His two dogs were running here and there, searching for the scent of truffle, though it can be growing 20-50 cm under the soil surface. The orders to the dogs were not in Croat but in Istriot dialect. For example, “Ven qua” to have the dog coming back. The woods are thick,... 

 JLBG Says:  Mario, the owner of the Agroturizam apartment we had rented in Spinovci had accepted to bring us into the Motovun woods, close to Livade, along the river Mirna for a demonstration of white truffle hunting. Arriving in the Motovun woods, we could hear dozen of dogs yelping... 

 JLBG Says:  Mario kneels on the ground in order to help the dog. He digs the soil with his shovel and takes some earth in the palm of his hand to smell it. It is really smelling like white truffle ! There should actually be something to unearth ! 

 JLBG Says:  Hang to his back, Mario holds his tool, a small homemade iron shovel with a wooden handle. Once the dog has spotted the scent of a truffle, it will be used to dig delicately the soil, trying not to wound the tubercle.