The delicate microclimate in the forests of Croatia's Istria peninsula has long been famed for producing some of the finest white truffles.MOTOVUN - The sound of paws scurrying along the forest floor echoes through Croatia's northwestern woods, where the hunt for truffles is being threatened by climate change and deforestation -- stirring fears that the country's gastronomic goldmine may be at risk.
"It's more difficult to find a truffle than to sell it," laments Darko Muzica, who oversees the Istra association of truffle hunters, an advocacy group campaigning to protect the peninsula's white truffle. Istria remains one of the few areas outside of Italy's famed Alba region able to produce high-end white trufflesIstria has long been a tourist hotspot in the Balkan nation, famed for its pristine coastline as well as island getaways but has often been overshadowed on the truffle front by neighbouring Italy across the Adriatic.
After digging away a layer of topsoil, Zgrablic carefully extracts a white truffle weighing some 20 grams -- which could net up to 130 euros . "They are heavy, have a good shape... which makes them a top quality product," says Zgrablic as he carefully writes down details of the truffle.The first written reference to truffles in Istria dates back to the late 1920s, when the peninsula was then part of Italy.AFP | Damir SENCAR
"The event started a truffle avalanche," says Giancarlo Zigante, a former hunter and restaurateur, who now produces hundreds of locally sourced truffle products -- including oil, chocolate and chips that are exported to dozens of countries worldwide.
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