One autumn morning in a secret part of Hampshire, two women, one man and one dog go in search of a local delicacy. But who’s teaching who?
Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.“He’s watching us,” Melissa hisses, “Don’t look!” All morning it’s been like this; Melissa, head on a swivel, commanding us to act normally at the first sign of anyone approaching. No one is beyond suspicion; an elderly couple walking their dog, a family enjoying a woodland stroll… Surely not, I think. But Melissa’s paranoia is infectious.
Melissa soon has a handful to show for her dogs’ efforts; warty, blackberry-sized black nuggets with insides like marbled white and milk chocolate. The aroma startles me. Knowing that the uber-expensive white truffle is famed for its complex, musky aroma and renowned as the ultimate aphrodisiac, I’m expecting my nostrils to be overwhelmed by something exotic. Instead, my first sniff of black truffle instantly transports me back to the boiled beetroot I’d be served at lunch with my grandparents.
Spread via dung, the colony of truffles in this wood is sharing water, nutrients and sugars with the beech trees. An enzyme released by the truffle stops other mushrooms and vegetation from muscling in. By leading Cresta and Henry to the resulting bald patches, or brûlées, on the forest floor, Melissa is giving the pair the best possible chance to find truffles.
But when all three dogs finally calm down, Henry seems more focused and Cresta is reading his tells better. When Henry indicates with a paw, it’s so subtle I can’t even spot it when I replay it back on my phone, but Cresta is on it like a flash, pushing her face into the freshly dug soil while holding Henry back with an outstretched arm. Am I watching a human train a dog or a dog train a human, I wonder? Maybe both.
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