An
old folk saying, still today taught to children living in the San Miniato
countryside, recounts that a little golden calf can be found between Oderi,
Montoderi and Poggioderi (three sites mentioned in medieval documents kept in
the Historical Archives in San Miniato). It
may seem odd, but the heart of the San Miniato truffle ground can be found in
just that Valdegola triangle.
The
White Truffle from the San Miniato hills, a geographical truffle-producing area
that extends towards the inland countryside of Pisa, is known as the Tuber
Magnatum Pico, the Food of the Kings, and is the most valuable of this
underground fungi. Located a few centimetres deep, they can only be found in a
limited number of areas favoured by nature for the particular, almost mysterious
combination of forest fauna and geological substratum.
Brillat Savarin writes: “the truffle makes women more tender and men
more amiable”. And, poor fellow,
he’s only referring to the black truffle of Périgord.
San
Miniato holds the most records in this select area. Here the largest truffle
ever found, a very fragrant tuber weighing in at 2.520 grams, was presented to
President of the United States Truman in 1954 with great fanfare. But their
truffles also hold a record of quality, not only because of the fertility of the
woods, but also to the care taken and the deep respect for the environment where
they are gathered.
Regulated
by strict controls and a regional law that defines how they are gathered and
marketed, the White Truffle of San Miniato is served in the best restaurants in
the world. Gathered with moderation and selectivity, production is limited due
to the brevity of their season (the three months of October, November and
December).
In
fact, the value of the White Truffle of San Miniato lies in its rarity.
Its roots date from the Middle Ages, but it has only been a little more
than 100 years that their gathering has been organised by the area’s family
groups, the so-called Tartufai delle Colline Samminiatesi (Truffle-gatherers of
the San Miniato Hills) (created about twenty years ago), that groups together
more than 400 gatherers in the Egola, Elsa and Era Valleys, all tributaries of
the Arno River. More than just truffle finders, the families each have their own
secrets handed down through generations, their truffle dogs and their hidden
paths in oak, poplar and holm oak forests.
The
truffle, though, does not just mean a unique taste: it also is a local business
and culture. For thirty years the
Mostra Mercato Nazionale del Tartufo Bianco di San Miniato (The National White
Truffle of San Miniato Show), transforms the city for the entire month of
November into a huge open-air tasting workshop. Here the truffle takes the throne where it is displayed in
the historical Piazza del Duomo at the foot of the Rocca. Other squares also have their own markets where typical
flavours of the San Miniato hills are offered together with specialities from
other Italian culinary cities.
The
Truffle Show, however, is just the peak of what this extraordinary season has to
offer. In the heart of the land of
truffles, deep in the woods and countryside, smaller and hidden festivals take
place in October in little villages that are home to the oldest truffle
dynasties: The Corazzano Festival, at the foot of the Romanesque parish of San
Giovanni Battista and the Balconevisi Festival, in the ancient village of the
Florentine Strozzi family, when each quarter participates in a goose race.
And in March the early Marzuolo truffle can be tasted in Cigoli,
birthplace of Lodovico Cardi who rivalled Correggio as the leader of Mannerism.