On the hunt for the Istrian truffle – in Croatia

August 5, 2009 by admin

As well as being a land of olive groves and medieval hill-top towns, the region of Istria in Croatia is home to the highly prized white truffle. Always wanting to experience the best of any region and having heard how the largest truffle in world was found here, we set out on a truffle hunt.

As every gourmet knows the truffles are at their best in the autumn and winter months and as we were there in August, I had to content myself with truffle hunting on a plate rather than at the roots of some woodland oak tree. This highly prized knobbly fungus is found around the town of Motovan where the Mirna river helps provide the moist woodland soil where truffles thrive. We stopped at the nearby village of Livade where in October and November a Truffle festival is held and all year round you can visit the Zigante restaurant and shop, devoted to truffles.

The restaurant offers a truffle tasting menu with every course infused with truffles down to the chocolate truffle mousse for desert – now that could be truffle heaven. As we had our children in tow who were not quite ready for the full truffle overload, I contented myself to buying a jar of truffle paste in the shop to bring home and peering through the counter at the small but extremely expensive pile of truffles for sale.

Moving on before we spent a small fortune, we reached the hill-top town of Grožnjan, home of many artists and galleries where we found a shady courtyard inn for lunch. Of course I had the homemade pasta in a creamy sauce topped by lavish shavings of truffles, while the children stuck to spaghetti bolognaise and coke. I managed to force them to taste a tiny mouthful in the interests of their gourmet education, although they probably didn’t see it that way.

Never having tried truffle before I found it difficult to describe – how do you describe the taste of mushroom or garlic to someone who has never had them? All I can say was that there was an earthiness, and a pungency that reminded me of both and then my husband swore he could smell calor gas! The taste lingered with me most of the afternoon in the same way as garlic. I think that to have it as I did shaved over fresh creamy pasta must be the ideal way to start – sometimes the simple things in life are best.

For more information about the Istrian truffle and how you can enjoy it, visit the Istria-gourmet.com website where you can also see photos and videos about other Istrian produce.

This post is part of Wanderfood Wednesday - see all the other foodie posts at Wanderlust and Lipstick

You may also enjoy
A postcard from Istria in Croatia
Postcard No 2 from Istria in Croatia
Postcard No 3 from Istria in Croatia

www.flickr.com

heatheronhertravels’ Croatia – Istria Grožnjan photoset

Don’t miss out – subscribe to Heather on her travels

Tags: blogsherpa, Croatia, Europe, Istria, Truffles

Comments

17 Comments on "On the hunt for the Istrian truffle – in Croatia"

Wanderluster on Thu, 6th Aug 2009 6:45 pm

That table-full of food looks scrumptious! And truffles are delightful – aren’t they? Subtle, yet earthy, as you mentioned.

Camels & Chocolate on Mon, 10th Aug 2009 3:49 am

My fiance and I are hoping to move back over to Europe–this time to Romania–a year from now. If we make that happen, we will be heading on our first vacation to Croatia. It’s one of the spots I’m bummed I never made it to while living in Scotland/Denmark/Holland! I also want to try this tasty little dish.

admin on Mon, 10th Aug 2009 7:17 am

Kristin, I’m sure you’d enjoy Croatia – I’ve had a great time both times I visited – a few years ago we had a family holiday on the island of Rab then this more recent trip to Istria.

One of my burning ambitions is to charter a boat and sail around the gorgeous Croatian coastline and explore the many islands.

Good luck with your move to Europe

Mark H on Wed, 12th Aug 2009 11:40 pm

To see truffles in a market (without tasting in a lovely dish), it strikes me as one of the most expensive things you’ll ever buy for a small black pungent ill-shapen blob. Yet people leap in an happily snap these things up. I saw true excitement in a small rural French market as truffles were rolled out on someone’s display and people perused and prodded the items carefully selecting the “best” one, however that may have been decided. My greatest mystery is how did someone ever discover that they taste good.

admin on Fri, 14th Aug 2009 7:27 am

Yes Mark, I was trying them for the first time and I could tell there was an addictive quality about them, but I wouldn’t be paying hundreds of pounds to buy one.

Heather on her travels around the web in July and August - Heather on her travels on Tue, 18th Aug 2009 10:04 pm

[...] also to Liz for featuring my post On the hunt for the Istrian truffle on her Anywhere, Everywhere travel carnival. I enjoyed some of the other posts such as Rambling [...]

marina k. villatoro on Wed, 19th Aug 2009 3:53 am

I have never tasted a truffle in my life. I am convinced I am really missing out!!!

A seafood feast at Limski Kanal - in Istria, Croatia - Heather on her travels on Wed, 19th Aug 2009 7:29 am

[...] You may also enjoy A Room with a view – staying at Plava Laguna Resort in Istria On the hunt for the Istrian truffle in Croatia [...]

A celebration of food from Istria in Croatia - Heather on her travels on Wed, 9th Sep 2009 7:16 am

[...] our second course we ate fresh pasta with mushrooms and truffle paste, inspired by the pasta with truffle shavings I ate at Bastia, in Grožnjan, the artist’s hill town. When I visited the Zigante shop, devoted to truffle products I [...]

Hill-towns of Grožnjan and Motovun, Istria, Croatia | Heather on her travels on Tue, 13th Oct 2009 9:42 pm

[...] Bastia where I ate a plate of pasta in creamy sauce with the local truffles shaved over it. Read my post about the truffles from this region here. Heather at Grožnjan in Istria, [...]

Cycling by the sea near Porec in Istria, Croatia | Heather on her travels on Sat, 24th Oct 2009 4:29 pm

[...] You may also enjoy Staying at Plava Laguna Resort in Istria A seafood feast at Limski Kanal in Istria On the hunt for the Istrian truffle in Istria [...]

My travelling year in 2009 | Heather on her travels on Fri, 8th Jan 2010 8:24 am

[...] lover in me in the old Venetian ports of Porec and Rovinj nearby as well as fresh seafood, local truffles and the picturesque hill towns that reminded me of Tuscany. For more Istrian travel stories read; [...]

Truffle Hunter on Fri, 15th Jan 2010 5:44 pm