Truffle hunt day cont.

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We decided last nt to have a nice bday dinner cause this hotel
Has a nice restaurant & a special package where u can have use of their spa & sauna & the full 4 course italian feast for a really reasonable price. low season is kicking in now so hotels all bit cheaper so max pleased bout that! We had a fantastic meal, a set menu of traditional Umbrian foods so had pasta with truffles! Beautiful beef fillets with balsamic vinegar and caramel pannacotta, Yum!
When we got up nxt morn it was raining & when people frm truffle farm arrived they said truffle hunter had phoned & it was just too wet in woods to go. Surprisingly to us novices, it wasnt for the obvious reasons-ground too wet, dogs unable to smell truffles due to rain, or our discomfort, but because ifs the dog goto wet and cold it could get sick & they r just too valuable to put at risk. We Understood, but no matter how understanding we were they wouldnt stop apologising. Lovely people. So we went to their farm, where they buy the truffles direct frm many hunters that tney know & trust- both white & black Umbrian truffles- & they process them into many & varied products. Dried flakes, pasta with truffles, truffle honey, oil, snap frozen truffles, truffle olive oil, paste - everything! And they process, manufacture all these products, & then sell them all frm this site! Only one of the owners can speak partial english ( the wife) so tney have to pay an interpretor to come when they have English speaking visitors! Their 17 yr old son came home frm school whilst we were there & like his dad, could not speak a word of English! I had also booked to see the truffles prepared & to have tasting, but because we couldn't go on the hunt, the wife went all out & cooked a full on lunch for us! It was great - we tasted fresh white & black truffles , then differing types of frz ones Warmed in olive oil & garlic, pecorino truffle cheese, u name it we tried it! She wanted me to help cook which was quite funny, under direction I did home made pasta, a beautiful cake, and helped with the rest of what was a gourmet feast! And they opened champagne when they learned it was my birthday! It really was a once in a lifetime day. But I still haven't been truffle hunting so bring on 60!

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