The 2019 promises well, the truffle is a lot and (cheap). To buy it, eat it and get to know it, enter the Alba Truffle Show. Between a glass of wine and a plate of truffle tajarin, you will spend a little and you will save yourself the scam
There International Alba White Truffle Fair every year in the province of Cuneo it attracts tens of thousands of people, hundreds to tell the truth, that with cars and buses they spill up and down from the Langhe hills. Enthusiasts have already booked hotels and restaurants for months, and they know their trusted trifolau to buy a precious truffle to take home. All the others (like us) arrive a little naive, and risk not returning home satisfied with this experience. For those who make an organized excursion or who move on their own, the advice to get around in Alba and its surroundings, however, is the same – including the fundamental one: how to eat and buy the truffle you came for!
The Fair: the POP solution
Alba is a small town with a beautiful historic center, which becomes busy with pedestrians in the autumn weekends as the rush hour in Milan. Over the years, the Fair has become a collection of events, concerts, educational workshops for children, historical re-enactments that go far beyond the truffle market alone, and is a calendar of initiatives that take place in the city and its surroundings. The Fair is therefore a widespread event but the real "Fair" is the Alba White Truffle World Market, a tensile structure in the Cortile della Maddalena, right in the center.
Many people, both in groups and alone, arrive in Alba and go around lost, thinking of finding stalls and truffles everywhere … to enjoy the charm of the "Fair" you have to enter the Market.
The World White Truffle Market
Inside the Market there are many stalls selling typical products, the sale of truffles directly from the trifolau, a tasting counter of local wines and a Piedmontese fast-food. Next to it in a room, the Show Cooking space with the great chefs, where sensory truffle analysis lessons and guided wine tastings are organized. Entrance to the Market costs € 4.00, € 13.50 with a wine tasting included. The ticket for the Alba White Truffle World Market is included by purchasing a Wine Tasting Experience (€ 26), Sensory Truffle Analysis (€ 22), Foodies Moments (€ 36), events dedicated to gourmets to discover the best combinations of starred chefs with the Alba White Truffle ..
Only on weekends
The Market is open only on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays (bridges of the Dead and the Annunciation included). On Saturdays in the streets of the city is added the chaos of the weekly market (the classic one, with pajamas and pans), so during the week the city is much more livable but has little sense for those who want to enjoy the charm of the initiative.
Where to buy
At the Market the trifulau who found the truffles in the woods with their dog, arrive the morning before the opening and their findings are evaluated by a very strict commission of judges, who discards the unsuitable truffles and "labels" those for sale, putting away from rip-offs. In addition to the highly prized white truffle, there is also black truffle and the so-called summer black truffle or scorzone: there is something for every budget. During the week, when the market is closed, you can turn to serious local shops, like Tartuflanghe. Banquets scattered around the streets should be avoided, without guarantees and with not very different prices.
Eat and drink in the market
Inside the Market there is a space dedicated to cooking and tasting the great wines of Langhe, Roero and Monferrato, where you can taste typical dishes and "scratch" at a competitive price the White Truffle of Alba. Some tables are set up outside, only high standing tables inside. Prices are really POP: cooked and raw salami at 8.00 euros, salami and Tuma and raw meat at 9.00 euros, tajarin with ragu or cheese fondue at 9.50 euros, ravioli del plin at 10 euros. The grated white 10g Alba Truffle costs € 28, to be added to the dishes. Excellent combo, the truffle aperitif which includes per person: egg, grated truffle, wine and bread.
How much is the white truffle
This year the prices are very popular, given that there is plenty of truffle, but you still pay by weight, both at the fair and at the restaurant. Buying a white truffle for about 40 € you can prepare a plate of tajarin or a fried egg for 4 people. At the restaurant, you pay around € 250 per item, around € 28 for a generous 10g white truffle grate, to be added to the price of the chosen dish. In many restaurants they indicate alongside the classic dishes, an "all inclusive" surcharge for white or black truffles, so that no one is surprised at the time of the bill. Inside the truffle fair, the 10g grated cheese costs € 27.
Beware of imitations
The white truffle comes grated at the table with the special truffle cutter and only raw. If you pay by weight, it is weighed at the table with a sling and the amount is shown to the customer, but if you pay it on the plate, you will already know the final price. The black truffle or the black summer scorzone tend to arrive already on the plate, unless you pay them by weight. They have decidedly lower prices than the white one of Alba and a less intense aroma and taste, definitely different.
Although it is a great year for truffles, it is a luxury product and therefore if you find it at low prices (like € 14 for a plate of tagliolini with a glass of wine included), it is certainly not white and it is legitimate to doubt the origin and quality. If you go to Alba, make the journey, invest time and money, not deprive yourself of the experience of eating the real White Truffle of Alba: it is a small luxury for € 28 that you can grant yourself.
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