New England agricultural fairs are all about livestock, crafts, and local crops. The highlight is often the weigh-in for the giant pumpkin contest. The prized squash generally tops the scales around a thousand pounds. The chief gastronomic fair of Istria is a little different—and the prize edible rarely weighs even a thousand grams.
Taking place over nine weekends from mid-September through mid-November, Zigante Truffle Days (trufflefair.com) in Livade celebrates the overlap of seasons of black and white truffles. Despite the absence of three-legged races and tractor pulls, there’s plenty of excitement to go around. With the relaxation of border restrictions as Croatia moves toward becoming a member of Europe’s passport-free zone, travelers from across Europe flood into little Livade to sniff and buy truffles—and eat their fill from the fair’s food vendors.
Instead of coach-sized pumpkins, the stars of the fair are big, plump truffles. To the uninitiated, they may look like something the neighbor’s dog deposited on your lawn. But once you’ve had a taste, those fungal lumps suddenly look downright beautiful.
Just as the pandemic upended plans for state fairs last fall, it also quashed the 2020 Zigante Truffle Days. For 2021, the festivities are back on a reduced scale, ending November 14. They focus on the Zigante restaurant and its adjoining truffle products store, with a few special activities (notably, a truffle hunt with dogs). We had the advantage of attending the last pre-pandemic fair and will attest that it almost induces gastronomic overload. Here’s hoping it returns full force in 2022.
No one lives on truffles alone
The event is billed as an ‶International Gourmet Expo.″ The ‶international″ part seems to be the audience. The focus of the gourmet expo is squarely on Istrian food products—which sometimes have an uncanny resemblance to Italian food products. As the image above indicates, several of the vendors at Truffle Days were displaying various sausages and a cured ham product known as Istrian pršut (which sounds like and tastes like Italian prosciutto). Better yet, they were offering samples.
Other tables groaned with local wines and liqueurs, still others with honey or aged balsamic vinegars. Truffle spreads of various combinations dominated other tables, where crackers and open jars allowed browsers to sample. In fact, except for the vendors selling whole truffles, almost everyone offered free samples. A determined browser could make a meal of it.
But we were more than determined. At one end of the expo, various vendors offered a selection of plates topped with sliced truffles. We passed on the polenta with truffles but opted for one of the pasta dishes and a nice cheese pizza. These entrees ranged from $15-$20—not inexpensive, but pretty reasonable given the thick coverage of sliced truffles.
Zigante Ruffle Days, Livade 7, 52427 Livade, Croatia; +385 (0) 52 664 302; trufflefair.com
