After a few years of absence, yesterday the high society was once again present in Castello Grinzane Cavour (Piedmont). An elite audience, star chefs, numerous prominent figures filled the historic hall, joined by the obligatory scores of journalists reporting live or in print media. A live stream with Hong Kong resulted in the purchase of a "twin truffle", or as they are officially called, a tuber. The bid came from the Hong Kong restaurant “8 e ½”, owned by Italian restaurateur Umberto Bombana, where a famous writer counted out 90.000 € for 950 grammes of “tuber”. All in all, five other portions brought in 150.000 €, and another 25.000 € was paid for unique Barolo and Barbaresco wine collectibles, demonstrating clearly the growing interest of the Asian market and the fact that all items were of superb quality.

Interested people from the Langhe region itself spent some 32.200 € portions of between 250 and 400 grammes. But what, then, is there to be told of the "tuber magnatum", the white truffle?

The White Alba Truffle first gained fame in the 1900s, when hotel/restaurant owner Giacomo Morra carried out his great promotional stunt, sending specimens to famous world leaders, actors and artists – immediatly prompting the Times to call him "King of the Truffle" in 1933. In other words, he was the one who actually laid the foundation of truffle sales in Alba.

There are six kinds of truffles, all of which are found during their own specific period of time in the Piedmontese forest and hazelnut grounds: bianco pregiato (Sept 15 to Jan 31), nero pregiato (Nov 15 to March 15), scorzone (June 15 to Aug 30), morzuolo (Jan 15 to April 30), invernale (Dec 15 to March 15) e nero liscio (Okt 1 to Dec 31). Their whereabouts are pretty clear: They are to be found everywhere in forests and non-cultivated grounds, certainly not on private grounds, and in areas that are rich in forests and have been recognized as such for less than fifteen years.

The truffle dog – almost never a pedigree – begins its training for its later function as soon as it is six weeks old. Bitches are ready for their job when they're one year old, whereas he-dogs require two and half years of training before they are ready. The truffle dog is the real hero, only by means of association does the truffle hunter deserve credit. The truffle dog is rewarded according to the traditional pattern of dog trainings: “You do something for me, You will get a biscuit in return”. No truffle, no biscuit.

The entire life span of the truffle, from spores to full-grown truffle, transpires below the ground. Once it's popped up above ground, it will only grow older and certainly won't go through any process of growth anymore. As high as a tree is, so far can its roots grow. That's how we end up finding a truffle.

With 4.000 truffle hunters in Piedmont paying for their license every year, this yields a considerable sum of money. Until Nov 17, 2013, there is the White Alba Truffle Fair, but after that you can still enjoy this little "elite product".