What it’s Like to Visit the International Alba White Truffle Fair in Italy

Forget the land of milk and honey; I’ll take the truffles, hazelnuts and wine of Italy’s Piedmont region. Rome and Florence are on the radar of anyone planning a trip to Italy but if you want to eat well you can’t do much better than Italy’s Piedmont. The medieval town of Alba is the capital of the Piedmont and with the bounty of the surrounding hills a must for any foodie. Located less than 2 hours from all the things to do in Milan Alba is a great destination for any trip to Italy. Each year fall the city is host to the International Alba White Truffle Fair, or the Fiera Internazionale del Tartufo Bianco d’Alba, an ode to the gastronomic delights found in northern Italy. Every weekend in October and November truffle hunters, winemakers, chefs and all manner of food artisans gather to celebrate the rich culinary heritage of the Piedmont and this year I had the chance to join them. Let’s take a look at what it’s like to visit the International Alba Truffle Fair in Italy.

White truffles are widely considered one of the most luxurious foods in the world and any chef will tell you the best truffles come from Alba. In the 1930s an entrepreneur by the name of Giacomo Morra created the world’s first truffle company and catapulted the fungi’s reputation by sending them as gifts to celebrities and world leaders such as Marilyn Monroe and Winston Churchill. Morra also created the International Alba White Truffle Fair where truffles can be evaluated for quality before going to market.

Part of the prestige of white truffles come from the fact that they can’t be cultivated and must be foraged. Trifulaus, or truffle hunters, must use specially trained dogs to search out the prized tubers. Pigs were used in the past but that practice has largely been abandoned as they had a habit of eating the truffles once they found them. Today a well-trained truffle dog can cost $7000 or more.

The opening weekend  of the International Alba White Truffle Fair kicks off with a parade, medieval re-enactments and a Donkey Palio ( a race on donkeys through Alba that is very common throughout Italy). The festival calendar is filled with culinary events ranging demonstrations from Michelin-starred chefs to classes on wine pairing and truffle sensory analysis.

Given the expense of truffles (which can be as high as $3,200 per pound) and the air of prestige surrounding this noble tuber you might think the International Alba White Truffle Fair would be an event for the elite accustomed to driving Ferraris and wearing Ferragamo; but Italy is a place where good food is considered a birthright and Alba White Truffle World Market, the heart of the Fair, is surprisingly casual and relaxed.

Entry to the Alba White Truffle Market is affordable 3.50 euro and 13.00 euro if you want wine tastings at the market. Truffles are naturally the star here and the truffle hunters who live in the hills of the Langhe region surrounding Alba proudly display their finds. Leather-skinned with dirt still under their nails from yesterday’s foraging efforts, most truffle hunters were affable and engaging, allowing me to inhale the intoxicatingly earthy aroma of their white truffles. They were especially proud of their largest truffles;the most expensive I saw was going for 2,400 euro but more modest fungi could be purchased for as little as 20 euro.

Aside from all things truffle the Alba White Truffle Market is a celebration of the culinary bounty of the Piedmont. Local vintners poured generous samples of Barbera, Nebbiolo and Barolo from vines that had been in their family for generations, bakers created all manner of sweets featuring the ubiquitous hazelnut (Nutella is headquartered in Alba) and booths overflowed with some of the best cheeses and salumi on the planet. An afternoon spent sipping wine (or a delightful Hugo Spritz), savoring cheese and snacking on hazelnuts all while the aroma of white truffles hung heavy in the air? This is what the International Alba White Truffle Fair is really about.