From October 6^th till November 18^th Alba, in Piedmont, Northern Italy, will host the White Truffle Fair, a food feast in which the star is the white truffle, one of the many delicacies of Italian Food. 

The "white truffle" or "Alba madonna" (Tuber magnatum) comes from the Langhe and Monferrato areas (Piedmont) and especially from Alba and Asti. 

The truffle is a luxury food because it is so rare to find it (a special dog breed, the Lagotto, is used to find them), especially the white one, and its flavour can range from garlicky to honey passing through spices hints. 

Belonging to the mushroom family, the ancients considered it the food of God, with aphrodisiac powers, while the Romans cooked tubers (only much later they were categorized as mushrooms) under ashes and eat them with honey. 

During Middle Ages they were afraid of it as they thought it could be poisonous. It was only later that they became fully appreciated at the nobles’ courts. 

In 1996 the Centro Nazionale Studi Tartufo was founded, an Institute unique in the world, dedicated to research and promotion of the truffle and it's properties. 

The Fair each year offers different tastings, workshops to teach the sensorial analysis of truffles, wine festivals to truffle festivals to films reviews exhibit (entitled “Cinema&Truffle”), book readings, hiking, exhibitions, a Medieval costume parade, and, needless to say, the Market of Alba White Truffle. 

Don’t know which event to pick? Check out the program on the dedicated website. 

Written by: Elisa della Barba