Across the UK (and further afield) there are plantations reaching fruiting age but a lack of dogs to hunt on them! If you have trained your dog to look for truffles and would like us to pass your details to farmers with mature sites, even if you just want ground to practice on, let us know and we’ll introduce you to plantation owners. We’d like to hear from anyone and everyone so we can build a database and help match plantation owners with trained dogs. Please spread the message far and wide.

One of our partners from America has recently written an incredible article about her experiences of becoming a truffle producer. It is a fantastic read, especially for anyone who is thinking of investing in a plantation. The article can be found here: http://www.carolinaalumnireview.com/carolinaalumnireview/20140708/?pg=24…

A newly published study in the journal Genome Biology by scientists from UCLA and colleagues in Italy, France and Taiwan reports on the truffle’s unique genetic makeup. “The fungi have a complex genome, with a preponderance of repetitive and mobile elements,” said Simone Ottonello of the laboratory of functional genomics and protein engineering at the Univ. of Parma in Italy. “The genome resembles the composition of the human genome, which also uses reversible methylation — and other mechanisms — to deal with repeated and mobile elements.”

On October 17th 2014, we are looking forward to a night celebrating truffles at Sheffield’s Inox Restaurant. The evening will include a journey through the fascinating world of truffles hosted by our own expert mycologist, Dr Paul Thomas. You will have the opportunity to taste a selection of truffles over drinks before a surprise three course menu is served. The head chef, Joe Berry, will create the menu for the evening using truffles to complement the finest seasonal ingredients.