Episode 51

Bok, prijatelji!

Welcome back to another emotional episode of our show! Yes!

Today we’ll learn how to express our feelings in Croatian.

We all can’t be stoic statues like Tony D!

Lesson - Emotions

emotions - emocije

happy - sretan/ sretna

sad - tužan/ tužna

excited - uzbuđen/ uzbuđena

angry - ljut/ ljuta

jealous - ljubomoran/ ljuborna

nervous - nervozan/ nervozna

confused - zbunjen/ zbunjena

frightened - uplašen/ uplašena

In this edition of the SSR, DJ Moe tells us about Croatia’s romance with truffles.

No, they’re not the potato chips!

I made that same mistake.

Stay tuned and learn about this special delicacy!

So here we go!

Let’s Talk Truffles.

What is a truffle?

In a word, a Fungus, but more of a tuber and Commonly the size of a human fist (btw: Tubers are underground structures that holds a plants organs and nutrients, like a potato or a yam). Truffles are an ectomycorrhizal fungi, meaning they like to grow around the roots of about 2% of the known plant species in the world. And the reason they like growing there is because these plant roots and truffles know how to work together in what’s called a symbiotic relationship. The Fungi help the plant absorb water and minerals that help the plant grow and the Truffle in exchange gets access to the plants carbohydrates that in turn help it grow! Scientists are actually doing research on this relationship to help ecosystem management and restoration, forestry and agriculture, so that relationship can do a lot of good elsewhere too.

How do you find them?

For the types of  Trufles we are lookin for to eat, you need to look around a few tree species, the most common is the Oak tree, other trees can also yelled Truffles such as Beech, Fir, Poplar & Hazlenut.

How do you know where to dig exactly? 

One option is to employ the services of a female pig.

Which are able to smell a certain biochemical that the Truffle emanates that is similar to a male pig. When the Female pig smells it, they get excited and push their nose into the ground and start rummaging around in the soil. But be careful as there is a strong likelihood that once the female pig finds the truffles, they’ll damage it or eat it on sight!

A second option is to use a Truffle Dog. They too can be trained to detect the scent and will do so with less chance of ruining the truffle in the process.

The last option is the use of Truffle Flies that tend hover around the base of a tree, this too can be a good indicator for a place to start shoveling some earth, yet not as accurate as the female pig or Truffle Dog.

Famous Truffles
The 2 most famous in the world can be found in the Périgord Region in the South West of France. Best known for its application in pâté de foie gras. The second most well known can be found in the Piedmont District of Italy, known for the White Truffle of Alba. Both of these types can go for anywhere between $250-$450 per pound, US.

Are there any more famous Truffles in the world?
Yes, there is one more, that Truffle being the White Truffle of Istria. Found commonly in the hinterlands (area of land behind the coast) of Istria, the Istrian Truffle is considered premium grade, but its prices and accessibility are not. Truffle Hunters in Croatia have been digging these up for centuries. The reason these Istrian Truffles are so accessible is simple. It has to do with the Istrian Truffels proximity to the Piedmont District in Italy. For years, Truffle hunters have been sourcing these Istrian White Truffles and passing them off as the White Truffles of Alba, which can bring in a large sum of money.

Foodies world wide are starting to recognize this and are bringing attention to the issue. Hopefully things changes over time, but for now you can purchase modestly priced premium Istrian Truffles in Croatia can be purchased without hurting your wallet.

One of the best dishes to experience the Istrian White Truffle is Fuzi with White Truffle Shavings. Which is still a modestly priced meal in the Istrian region. A meal of this caliber would go for 2-3x more in other places.

Now that people are more knowledgeable about the Istrian White Truffle, tourists are taking advantage of truffle hunting tours, where you are able to hunt and dig for your own Truffles. These tours alone keep the local tourism for the region going through November which used to taper around August.

Hopefully we all just added an Istrian White Truffle meal to our next trip to Croatia.

And that’s it for the Super Slatko Report!