Miro Kortiga might do the truffle foraging, but his wife Mirjana Kortiga takes charge of the tables at Miro Tartufi (miro-tarufi.com). She began by plying us with drinks before dinner. One choice was a very sweet honey liqueur. The other was a glass of white wine made from Istria’s native grape, Malvazija Istriana, known since the ancient Greeks ruled the region.

Mirjana and her staff had already prepared truffle hors d’oeuvres boards at each table. They had spread thin slices of bread with a mushroom spread that included some truffles and a soft creamy cheese with flecks of grated white truffle. They did the trick: All of us on the truffle experience found our mouths watering.

The two cheeses with flecks of black truffle in them pulsed with truffle flavor. The yellow cheese was a mildly aged cow’s milk cheese, the white a less aged cheese of blended cow and ewe’s milk. The salami—a mix of ox meat and pork with black truffle—proved an even better carrier of the truffle flavor. The Kortigas have the sausage made to their own recipe and sell it at the shop. It’s a perfect treat to enjoy while in-country. (Just don’t plan on bringing any through U.S. Customs.)

Raw truffles are good, but cooked truffles are even better

The Kortigas also extend the black truffles by mixing them with woods mushrooms in a spread they call ‶salsa.″ Our initial spread included some ‶salsa″ mixed with cream cheese and spread on rounds of bread. As one course of the meal, Mirjana used the mix to prepare a rich pot of scrambled eggs.

She heated the truffle-mushroom salsa with generous amounts of both olive oil and butter in a big pan and poured in a big bowl of well-blended eggs. She cooked the mixture slowly over low heat, stirring constantly. As the eggs began to form curds, she added grated fresh truffle, then grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and a little salt, When she served, an assistant sliced fresh truffle over the top of each plate. The final plates of eggs were heady and rich with truffle flavor. They would truly be the breakfast of champions.

Truffles lend a delicious depth to sweets as well

Like a lot of truffle producers, the Kortigas also add small pieces of truffle to honey. The honey absorbs the aroma and tastes heavenly. Mirjana chose to close out the truffle experience meal with a light chocolate layer cake with vanilla cream filling. She grated truffles over the pieces, then drizzled them with honey, and grated some more truffle. The flavor of truffles lingered in our mouths for the rest of the day. Here’s a little video of her preparation: