Pig or dog
Only very rarely are truffles still sought with pigs. Today, dogs are in the lead.
Dogs are better suited than pigs for truffle hunting because they are easier to lead and train. They also do not eat immediately the truffles they find. Many dog breeds are suitable as truffle hunters, not only the particularly popular Italian water dogs of the Lagotto-Romagnolo breed.
The fact that black truffles were found in Italy with the help of pigs was reported by the papal chef Platina in 1475 in the first printed cookbook. From the 18th century onwards, dogs were also used more and more in Italy. In France, the search for truffles with pigs was part of the image of the Périgord. Today, dogs have also caught on in France.
Ground cracks and truffle flies
The Romans got their truffles from North Africa. They were desert truffles that burst out of the ground when ripe, so you can easily find them without the help of animals by simply looking at the cracks on the ground.
Some people even sniff out the scent of truffles in the forest.
Black Périgord truffles can also be tracked down by observing the so-called truffle flies. They are attracted by the scent of the ripening truffles, dimethyl sulphide, and lay their larvae in the soil so that the larvae can crawl to the truffle and develop inside. The search method was described as early as 1715 in Provence and was still used in France in the second half of the 20th century. The naturalist Borch depicted the flies in his book on the truffles of Piedmont in 1780.
You can also spot truffles in winter by slightly thawed areas under the snow cover. This is because their growth creates warmth. This was already reported by the Italian Alfonso Ceccarelli in 1564.
Sources: Janvier, H. (1963): La mouche de la truffe (Helomyza tuberiperda Rondan). Bull. Soc. Entomologique de France 68 (5-6). 140-147; Volbracht, C. (2020): Die Trüffel. Fake & Facts. 58-63