June 2025

 Truffles, the scent of earth

I’m so glad I took part in this program. It was an amazing experience. Viktoria (my co-explorer for the day) and I met up in the morning at and set off for our—truffle hunting in the village of Gažon. We were met by our hostess and tour guide Jerneja, the truffle hunting expert Valdi and his adorable dog. Not only did we venture into the forest in search of one of the most expensive (and delicious) culinary ingredients, we learned so much along the way. I now know the history of truffle hunting, why dogs are now used instead of pigs, how truffle dogs are trained, about the special tools that are used to harvest the mushrooms, and how to recognize real quality truffles in meals as opposed to artificial flavorings and low-quality oils. A highlight of mine was watching Valdi’s trained truffle dog in action. The sheer pleasure of locating truffles and receiving acknowledgment for her work was apparent. And when she was no longer working, I was allowed to pet her. Such a delight.

As a truffle-lover, I especially enjoyed the culinary portion that followed. We were able to taste a variety of both black and white truffle products (spreads, salami, cheese) and had a cooking course where we prepare truffle pasta (which, of course, was complimented by a lovely Malvasia and an elderberry drink). We also enjoyed olives from Jerneja’s garden. We also had something I’d never tasted before—pickled garlic stems. They were delicious. This took place at Jerneja’s house and I am grateful for her incredible hospitality. She really makes you feel at home, as if you are old friends spending time together. I’m so glad I got to experience this and I would definitely recommend this truffle hunting adventure to anyone.  

After leaving Gažon, we stopped for a coffee break. It was nice to get to know Viktoria, Jerneja and Ksenija (from Radio Si) a bit more. Then Jerneja took us on a walking tour of Koper. It was a mix of historical and cultural information, exploring the town, and visiting all major sites of interest. I learned that Taverna Koper was a former salt warehouse, stories of important former residents, events, and how Koper became what it is today. It thought it would be boring but it wasn’t. One thing I found fascinating was about the old gossip box at the city hall. The visit to the Koper Cathedral and Bell Tower was highlight. After going up many steps, we were rewarded with a beautiful, panoramic view of the city.

Near the marina, we had drinks and did our interviews. I’m so happy to have taken part in this and thoroughly enjoyed the day. Thank you so much Radio Si and to all those who were a part of it. I will definitely be visiting Koper again in the future.

Katarina Hoffke

 Truffles, the scent of earth

You would be surprised how many different flavors bring us the ultimate aroma of a truffle. Do you want to know the exact number? Come and visit Gažon, a charming village in Koper region, just in the coastal region of Slovenia. I was very lucky to get the opportunity to visit IstraTerra and its full day of program, covering truffle hunting, cooking and a walk-around in Koper. It gave me not only a nice day program, but also lot of new understanding of truffles and a different viewpoint on Koper.

Thanks a lot for the warm welcome, the experiences and all the explanations to Jerneja Tratnik Lacovich and Valdi, the truffle hunter, including his diligent and kind dog.

We met with Katarina in Koper in the morning. Nice starting point the main Bus Station as it is so easy and cheap to get to Gažon by bus. Get on it, so nothing will limit your experience. Arriving to Gažon, Jerneja welcomed us with a big smile, a lot of knowledge and enthusiasm.  She has a real dedication to show the past and present of Gažon, answering all our questions with strong English knowledge and a good sense of humour. After a short walk to the end of the village, we met with Valdi and his dog, to understand key motifs and parts of truffle hunting. One may be surprised that a real hunting ceremony may take a full day, but this program is specially design for a shorter period to get people closer to nature, truffles and the hunters. It was so good to see how the dog cheered up after each and every successful hunting and became more and more dedicated to go ahead with it. The connection between nature, dog and hunter is crystal clear. Lots of questions were answered about truffles, hunting, dog training, the forest and everything related to the program.

After that we walked back to the IstraTerra house where, with the leadership of Jerneja, we prepared our lunch from pasta -typical Istrian one, the fuži-, truffles and some other ingredients. Which ones? Come and join Jerneja to know them. Each of the appetisers were related to truffles. Small tricks made the experience deeper and cheerful. It is for those who really want to know truffles and dishes made from them.  We were shown how to clean truffles, how to get to the truffle bases for the homemade pasta (the best ever eaten, so no dried pasta for the future), and how to refresh it. Tasting truffle pasta properly is an art of eating a dish. It is slow, very careful and brings everyone back to the time, when people were really focusing on lunch/dinner.

Local Malvazija and elderflower syrup were also delicious and helped us to fall in love with the experience even more. IstraTerra, besides being used for the program, is a beautiful Istrian House too, where you can feel the atmosphere of the slow – living of Istria.

After lunch we returned to Koper to have a walk around downtown and to climb the tower of the church. Grabbing a coffee before starting our little tour gave us a peaceful start to the program. During our afternoon “passeggata” we gained a huge understanding of the history and lifestyle of both ancient and current Koper including the old shoemaker, the square under which water used to be collected and stored, the palace, the tower and lot of little details one would not notice on his or her own. It was personal, humorous but still full of knowledge.

We would strongly recommend one to come and get closer to truffles and Koper through IstraTerra, get to know Jerneja and Valdi. To immerse yourself in the atmosphere we would not recommend joining more than in a group of 6, so one still has time and space to ask lots of questions and get answers for each of them.

Recommendation: it is an easy program, so no need to be very sporty. Still sporty shoes or even boots and long trousers are best choices in the forest.

Viktoria Galla

Photos by: Katarina & Viktoria

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