The dogs follow their noses, finding truffles in the ground via scent — only aromatic when the truffle is mature and ripe. The truffle’s life cycle depends on being found, dug up and consumed; the very act of discovery allows its spores to spread. Wild animals like squirrels, mice and deer eat the truffles outright; trained dogs mark the ground with a swipe of a paw, then wait for their reward.

For truffle hunter Brooke Page’s six-year-old puggle (a cross between a pug and beagle), Denver, that reward comes in the form of a savoury charcuterie morsel. Denver is Page’s second truffle hunting dog; her original companion Dexter was also a puggle, and a legend in his time.

An early B.C. truffle pioneer, Page started training Dexter to detect truffles in 2010. Searching in the wild for the elusive Tuber oregonense, or western white truffle, Dexter was uncommonly gifted at finding them, while Page enjoyed the thrill of the hunt and getting out into nature.

“Truffle hunting is a passion for me,” says Page, who lives in B.C.’s Okanagan region. “I saw this opportunity to pioneer the tricks of the trade of truffle hunting in British Columbia because there was so little of it back then. It was uncharted territory.”

Her enthusiasm for mycology coupled with Dexter’s hunting skills helped scientists and mycologists further their research about what edible, and non-culinary, truffle species existed in British Columbia — and where they could be found.

The value of Page’s “expensive hobby” revealed itself at a presentation to the Vancouver Mycological Society by Oregon-based truffologist Charles LeFevre of New World Truffieres. LeFevre presented colour-coded maps, detailing the “before” and “after” in many areas where Dexter had located truffles, confirming that the pair was doing something important for the science of mycology in determining the extent of wild truffles present in the Pacific Northwest.

English oak and hazelnut tree seedlings must be inoculated and colonized with truffle fungus before planting, so the fungus matures along with the tree. On an existing orchard, the native mycorrhizal fungi are already on the trees and will “kick off” any introduced truffle fungus, says Berch. After inoculation and planting, successful truffle cultivation is a waiting game impacted by soil quality, irrigation, and climate. As in many agricultural pursuits, success is never guaranteed.

That being said, though the cultivated truffle industry in B.C. is in its infancy, two farms are working to provide a more reliable supply for aficionados and local chefs. A nut farm on Vancouver Island has successfully cultivated Périgord and Burgundy black truffles, while Langley’s Below the Oaks is home to Canada’s only farm producing Bianchetto white truffles.

Owned by Trevor and Danielle Mlinaritsch, the Below the Oaks truffière includes five acres of English oak and hazelnut trees that were inoculated for Périgord truffles as well as Italian Bianchetto truffles more than 15 years ago by truffologist Lefevre.