In America, you can find them in the forests of Washington and Oregon. 2. Enlist the help of your animal friends Dogs and pigs are the most common animals used for hunting truffles for their uncanny sense of smell that can detect the presence of truffles in an area. Yes, you can even train your dog to sniff out truffles. If you can find something yellowish, beige, or reddish brown that resembles a potato, you might be just lucky because that s a truffle! For many centuries, dogs and pigs have been trained to hunt truffle mushrooms. Their distinct ability to sense the strong smell of these mushrooms makes these animals a perfect fit for the hunting job. Since truffles are hard to find, truffle hunting has become a big business when truffle season comes. From fall to spring, trufficulteurs or those who hunt for truffles for selling make use dogs that are specially-trained especially in finding buried things usually at night time. Before the use of dogs in hunting truffles, people have been using female pigs or sows for this purpose. If you re fond of mushroom-filled dishes, you may have seen truffle mushroom quite a number of times on the restaurant menu. Yes, truffles are known all over the world not only as fungi, but also as an exquisite delicacy that s meant to be savored along with other gourmet dishes. You can tell that a mushroom is a truffle if it has a thick, rough, and wrinkled outer skin. When shopping for truffles, smell them to check their odor intensity and freshness. Truffles that have been stocked for a long time gradually lose their strong smell. Also, go for truffles that are well-textured, evenly shaped, blemish-free, and firm. Pick ingredients that go well with the truffles without diminishing their strong flavor. Others say that truffles had been part of Roman and Greek civilizations, mainly as a delicacy, medicine, or even an aphrodisiac. Regardless of where the very first truffle fungus sprouted, this mushroom is found practically everywhere in the world, albeit in different amounts. Most truffles are harvested between September and May.