Istria on a plate

Blessed with perfect growing conditions and a proud culinary tradition, Croatia's abundant north-western peninsula promises rich pickings for gastronomes

- Ben Olsen

ARMED with his slim otka spade and accompanied by two eager lagotto romagnolos, my Croatian companion Armin strides deep into the Forest of Motovun. The sun glints through a tangle of trees as we step over exposed roots, clinging onto branches for balance on the steep slopes. Wild asparagus season is approaching an end, its young edible shoots giving way to bristling spines, as the emergence of another fruit of the forest—the black summer truffle— gives Lily and Dalma reason to get excited. 'This is our playground,' says Armin, who grew up in the nearby truffle capital of Buzet, as the pair zigzags through the leaf litter ahead. 'These dogs are calm and have a lovely energy, but when they enter the woods they are like beasts.'

In the wild, largely unpopulated heart of Croatia's Istrian peninsula, this sprawling ancient forest is one of the world’s leading locations for truffles. Growing in symbiosis with oak, hornbeam and poplar roots, different forms of the prized fungi appear throughout the year releasing a scent when ripe that, with a keen canine nose and a slice of serendipity, reveals their location. Up ahead, Lily and Dalma suddenly divert up the slope and Armin sprints after them, providing words of encouragement as their frantic digging sends soil flying backwards. A nudge and a twist with the otka and our prize, a textured dark-brown fungus just over an inch in diameter, is gently extracted. ‘Now they need their paycheck,’ he says, reaching into his pocket for cookies, which Lily and Dalma devour as Armin explains how Istrian truffle hunters are fiercely protective of their favoured spots, often passed down from older generations.