2024-01-04 14:47:07
A cool, fresh sunny day in the southern Basque Country. Chirping, humming, spicy air, I passed the last village half an hour ago. I have arranged to meet Igor Zubizarreta and Joy at the foot of the Alavesa Mountains; we meet at a grove of holm oaks. Joy is already excited. As soon as Igor lets the cocker spaniel off the leash, she races through the trees, sniffing here and there, left, right and down the middle. Not two minutes pass before she throws herself on her back, howling. Igor rushes over, pets her and gives a reward. He carefully digs in the dry soil, first with a shovel and then with his hands. “Ahí esta!” he calls, there it is – and picks a huge earth-brown chunk out of the hole. Tuber Melanosporum, Périgord truffle, 49 grams. Igor washes the tuber in a small bowl, then he has time for an interview.
Nice that you tell us something about your passion. It’s not easy to find someone who will talk about their way of truffle hunting.
That’s correct. If you were a Spanish journalist, I wouldn’t tell you anything, but Germany is far away. The truffle scene is a hidden world, there isn’t much talk about it. Especially not about quantities or prices. If someone does tell you something, it’s either a lie or not entirely true. And when night falls, trading takes place at intersections and gas stations.
Before it gets all gloomy – can you tell us something about yourself?
My name is Igor Zubizarreta, I am 47 and live with my family in a small village with 37 inhabitants. We have two cats, a cow and two dogs, Sua and Joy. Around 600 sheep live around us.
You obviously left the cow at home, but you brought Joy with you.
Joy is an exceptional dog. I trained truffle hunting with her for three years. It worked at home, it worked in the park, but not out in nature. She would rather follow the birds, the deer or the rabbits. They were no longer interested in truffles. Or so I thought. Until I started not to force my will on her, but to trust her. She raised me, and that took time. That was four years ago. Joy is now seven and the best dog I have ever had. It is able to find any type of truffle, even any type of hypogean mushroom.
The Spaniards have only had a taste for the noble tuber in the last few years. : Image: Oliver Maria Schmitt
And the truffles grow particularly well here?
The holm oaks you see are 14 years old. They come from a French laboratory where they were inoculated as seedlings with the truffle fungus. The land here belongs to my friend Txema, he is an organic farmer and truffle breeder. And when it’s harvest time, I’ll stop by with Joy. I have been traveling in the world of truffles for more than 20 years now. I have studied the Basque part of their history, traveled to half of Spain and rummaged through archives for months. It’s like truffle hunting itself: the deeper you dig, the more surprising the finds.
#searcher #Basque #Country #reports