Every Year, This Truffle Festival in Oregon Goes to the Dogs

Truffle hunters in Eugene have a secret sniffing weapon.

In 2018 , there was a major upsetat theJoriad North American Truffle Dog Championshipin Eugene , arguably the most popular part of theOregon Truffle Festival(this class happening on February 17 ) . A stringy - hirsute rescue Chihuahua mix namedGustavesnagged the top purity . Nobody could ’ve seen it coming : Though the midget tri - colored puppy had made it far into the challenger before , get to the final - circle this yr proved to be difficult . Gustave was easily distract — by hand clapping , by other dogs , by crowd screaming in delectation at this serious - faced sniffer in a puffy orange vest . But , apparently , one with a elan for dramatic play . In the second round , where the end is to comprehend up thermionic tube of earthnut - scented cotton egg scatter around the Lane County Horse Arena , he dilly - dallied , waiting for the last minute possible before he scratched the ground , indicate a discovery . Suspense !

Gustave had made it to the third and concluding beat , but the odds were heap . This event was an actual William Holman Hunt for white truffles ( tuber oregonense ) out in the forests of Oregon , something he ’d never done , up against four other dogs include a swob - topped Lagotto Romagnolo , lovely , but intimidating : a breed that for centuries has beenbredto do the thing . And it was January , the height of truffle season in the forest of Oregon ’s Willamette Valley , entail lactating , and dusty . For a Chihuahua , it ’s downright freezing . Gustave shivered out in the timber , unfocused , his puffy undershirt no match for the elements .

But then , as documented in Rowan Jacobson ’s bookTruffle Hound , his coach , Marcy Tippmann , put asecondcoat on him . And a warmer Gustave was good to go , zeroing in with precision on the bulbous treasure latch to the roots of Oregon ’s state tree , the Douglas firs . “ He ’s this little cad and it select him a piddling teeny mo longer to dig , but he ’s exceedingly fast , ” recalls Leslie Scott , who with her husband , mycologist Charles Lefevre , co - founded the truffle fete in 2006 to bring attention to Oregon ’s growing truffle industry . “ He ’s just this trivial automobile : stab up a chocolate truffle , get a treat , stab up a truffle , get a treat . He wassotreat motivated . ”

Already a winner in our eyes.|Photo by Kathryn Elsesser

Gustave ended up with a haul of 17 of Oregon ’s recherche clean truffles . Second place was a distant 10 found by a black Lab named Ciaran . It was a triumph not just for the unmingled numbers , or because he was an endearing winner , but also because it was truly a will that any wienerwurst could do it . ( Except perhaps bird dogs . “They’re direct to look up , so any racket in a tree , or in the sky , their nose kick the bucket straight up , ” say Scott . )

And that ’s moderately important . Because without truffle hunt dog — avarietyof truffle hunting andiron — there would be no Oregon truffle manufacture .

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Ancient Greeks believedthat truffles were the promised land - sent production of a thunderbolt launched to Earth by Zeus . The Sojourner Truth is more hardheaded , but perhaps just as sorcerous . Unlike other mushrooms , whose fruit are easily spotted above background , truffles — of which there are hundreds of species — are subterranean sequesterers , spore enclose in a protective coat call in a peridium , latch in a symbiotic family relationship onto the origin of oaks , cobnut , and true fir . There are three primary type : the white truffle , or Alba ( tuber mangatum ) typically found in Italy , and the most expensive nutrient in the world , sometimes commanding up to $ 3,000 a pound . The bleak earthnut , orPerigord , is usually found in the region of France of the same name . She ’ll run you $ 900 a pound . And the summer truffle , or Burgundy truffle ( tuber uncinatum ) , the mildest - taste and least expensive of the cluster , at $ 350 a British pound .

But while chocolate truffle were once thought to be the undivided luxury of these European places — and palate — the truth is , with the right-hand circumstance , these marbleized delicacies can cultivate up anywhere . For sure , they ’re still rare in the US : 97 % of truffle - spring up attempt over here fail , in site from California to the Appalachians to Tennessee . Also working against would - be harvesters is metre : the tuber themselves take almost a decade to arrive at visor yield . But for those with a visual modality and stars in their eyes , it ’s a minor obstacle .

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Oregon truffles grow exclusively on the radical of the Douglas true fir , a tree typically farmed for timber and Christmas trees . ( Truffles in Oregon were uncovered by accident , on an give up Christmas tree farm . ) Now these private farms , many initially plant in despair to make money , have yielded a second lucrative physique of income , and new fungi ecosystems .

But to get the most out of truffles , you have to know how to harvest them . For long time , the Oregon truffle was thought to be of subpar timber , simply because humans were raking them up all at once in clumps before they had meter to ripen , render them almost tasteless . Hunters would look for a dark patch of ground call brûlée — Gallic for burnt , like crème brûlée — which indicates that the truffle has suffocate all the vegetation around them ( they tend to do that ) . They would sniff them , but our noses are n’t penetrative enough to get the occupation done .

And that ’s where man ’s best friend come in .

They may not be pretty, but they sure are tasty.|Photo by John Valls

But first , the pig . Whether or not you ’ve try a truffle , there are probably a few things you experience about them . They ’re rare , for one . And expensive . And they ’re opine to be innate aphrodisiac . Napoleon used them increase his strength , and Lord Byron kept them around for … whiff . The Marquis de Sade seduce his conquering with them . And while many so - called natural aphrodisiac are bunk , there may be some truth to this one . The original truffle hunting pets were female pigs , because it was something she would have done anyway . peculiarly if she were appear for a teammate .

Truffles arrest androstenol , a pheromone also produced in the saliva of male boar ( and the armpits of virile humans ) . And it ’s a hell of a eau de cologne to a peeress slovenly person . It ’s by design : truffle depend on animals to settle down them up and disperse the spores . And it ’s in all likelihood how we even con of the world of truffle in the first place , right smart back in the Bronze age or even earlier : Forlorn distaff pig went steady down in hunt of would - be buff , only to be let down when she commit up a knobby fungus .

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The man just wants his pig back.

And so , she would wipe out it . Enthusiastically . seek to wrestle it away and you might lose a finger or two . And some truffle hunting watch did . ( If you ever run into a hunter that use a pig , count their digit . ) To make unnecessary their finger , truffle hunters switched to dogs , training their piercing sensation of odor to spot the kingdom Fungi . There are a few benefits , besides the finger’s breadth thing : Dogs are much smaller , sneaky , and easier to insure than pigs . Nobody will know or care about your business if you ’re toting a dog around in your Subaru . Take your pig out for a walkway in the timberland , however , and mass start to suspect something ’s up .

And there ’s the rest of the year when it ’s not earthnut season . Dogs are easy to integrate into everyday life . hog , not so much ( though Nic Cage in the moviePigwould credibly disagree ) . And when it make out to harvesting dogsmayeat a few truffle here or there , but their main need is to please their owner . Will work for dab . Or dainty . Okay , mostly treats .

The first working truffle dogswere the curly - topped Lagotto Romagnolos , a water dog tracing back to the sixteenth C in Italy , originally bred for retrieving ducks from the marsh of Romagna . With education , its attentiveness and intelligence were easily transferred to effete fungi . In 2008 , two Lagottos , Tom and Lussi , were work to the US from Italy for truffle - hunting use in the trufferie of Tennessee ’s upscale Blackberry Farm . They ’ve since bring forth a modest army of sniffer spread across the state . Expensive sniffers . One of their pups will bleed you $ 8,500 to $ 10,000 .

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A goal of the Oregon Truffle Festival is to emphasize that while you probably do need a bounder to be a successful earth-ball Orion , you do n’t involve to bollocks up your bank account on a Lagotto to get in on the playfulness , and perchance even fortune . Hey , just face at Gustave ! The OTF offers accession without the price tag : In the non - COVID past , it included a truffle dog breeding for your pup — any pup — with lessons by fauna whisperer Jim Sanford of Blackberry Farm . Then try your fortune in the truffle andiron competition . A $ 50 ledger entry fee gets you a possible payout of $ 500 .

Another end of the fete is photo . The Oregon truffle is already covet by high - end chef in the Pacific Northwest , but beyond the region , it ’s less known . The fete aims to change that , thereby perk up the rural economy . “ The festival is a non-profit-making and we ’re intent - driven about create an industry in Oregon that would benefit so many smaller community that need visitor and resourcefulness in the articulatio humeri time of year , ” allege Scott . “ As good as our wine is and our chefs are , people are not normally gon na travel here in the winter . ”

The fledgling nature of the industry and classless stance of the fete mean that it ’s also much more laid back than one , say , in old - human race Europe . Here they ’re engrossed on education , exposure , and interest , which in turn would create demand . And it ’s work . “ We have some people who come to the chocolate truffle festival as total epicure who are now in the truffle dog stage business , ” says Scott . “ We have so many convert either harvesting for themselves , harvesting to sell to chefs , chefs who are doing their own culinary thing . ” When the festival start in 2006 , Oregon truffles were $ 60 a pound . Now , they ’re $ 600 .

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But beyond economics the fete also includes all sorts of playfulness . In a distinctive non - COVID year there would be seminar , and a market place with cooking demo , truffle dog demos , tastings , and infused products and wine-colored . “ We ’ve had truffle beer and truffle vodka , ” enjoin Scott . “ That was another end , to help catalyze seasonal artisan nutrient industries for small and strength food producer . ”

There are also dinners where chefs go wild with the umami ingredient , throwing together everything from earthnut - stuffed quail to dark earth-ball - cure smoke Salmon River to desserts like earthnut bake Alaska and truffle brie cheesecake for dessert . couple , of course of instruction , with plenty of Willamette Valley wine-colored .

And there ’s a parade , where no dog competing in the truffle andiron competition goes uncelebrated . “ We give a prize along with the $ 500 prize , but we ask for everyone who put down to parade their frank , ” says Scott . “ We call out the name of the click owner , and the name of the dog , and breed . ”