Lassie has some competition. Rocco is now the star for searching and retrieving. In a small village close to Pisa, Italy, Rocco sniffed a giant white truffle weighing in at 3.3 pounds – a new Guinness World Record.
You may ask, “How does finding an ugly fungus compare with Lassie finding his master down a well, or dragging a little boy from a fire?” Well, this giant truffle was just auctioned off and the winning bid went to billionaire Stanley Ho for $330,000! (Also a record.) The proceeds from the auction were slated to help people with genetic diseases, street children in London and Catholic charities. That’s helping a lot of people for one glorious moment of mucking in the mud!
This led me to learn about how truffles are found. It’s in the nose. But, depending on the country, depends on what nose! In France, they use pigs. The only problem is that the pigs love to eat the truffle after they find it and is rewarded by being beaten by a stick!
In Italy, they use dogs to find truffles by first training the dog to locate a ball, then they use Gorgonzola cheese, then the real thing – a piece of truffle. Fortunately, the dogs’ palates lean toward dog treats rather than truffles.
Ah… what we do to add a little spice to our lives…
