One of my other favorite activities that we did during my spring break study abroad in Spoleto, Italy was truffle hunting in the mountains. Typically, I think that many Americans are under the impression that truffles are a very fancy and expensive food that is hard to come by, but after learning from Alessandro I now understand that truffles are a very common and simple food in Italy. The whole experience from watching how the dogs hunt the truffles in the mountains to watching how Alessandro and his mother Mima cook and incorporate the truffles was amazing. When we first got to the mountains, Alessandro taught us about how he trains his dogs to hunt truffles starting when they are only a couple of months old. He explained that he teaches them to fetch with a tennis ball and eventually switches the tennis ball to a truffle. So essentially, the puppies learn by playing fetch until they are able to find truffles that are underground based on the scent. Watching as the dogs ran around the mountain and dug up truffles was such a cool experience, but it became even more amazing when we got the opportunity to taste the truffles and Alessandro’s amazing cooking. We stopped on the mountain for a picnic consisting of pecorino cheese, salami, Prosecco, and scrambled eggs with olive oil and freshly shaved truffles on top. The eggs were so rich and decadent, and the truffles on top added a nice earthy and savory flavor to them. After hiking through the mountains to learn about how the truffles are hunted, we returned to Alessandro’s restaurant where we ate an amazing three-course lunch. We all gathered in the dining room to watch as Momma Mima taught us how she makes fresh strangozzi pasta, rolling it and cutting it all by hand. The pasta was then cooked and topped with lots of olive oil and summer black truffles, and it was one of my favorite foods I ate the entire trip. After that, we were served a steak that was also topped with summer black truffles and thinly sliced potatoes, and for dessert we ate zuppa inglese custard with sponge cake. This day was so special and it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to learn from Alessandro and watch his dogs hunt for truffles and eat the amazing foods that they can be made with.