Buried Treasure Australia
Originally published in Australian CountryExcerpt
Truffle farmer Damian Robinson is striding along a line of hazelnut trees, charting the mysteriously symbiotic relationships in the fungal world, when he offers a theory: “We are one chromosome removed from a pig and that’s probably why we like the smell of truffles so much.”
Damian doesn’t have a pig. He has a fiercely intense Jack Russell that’s a few chromosomes further down the DNA chain but the dog knows his own mind.
He doesn’t give a fig about truffles. Frisbee likes Schmackos.
“Find the truffle,” Damian cries. “Find the truffle.” The dog swings into action, slow-motion break dancing over tufted grass, nose snuffling and paw tapping this spot, then that. His quarry has the earthy piquancy of, what, exactly?