The truffle hunting season in Meteora is set to begin in the first half of March and will run until the end of October. A truffle dog will search for the rare underground mushrooms, and the organisers, the Museum of Natural History of Meteora and the Mushroom Museum will hand them over to chefs for a truffle pasta, to be enjoyed by all participants in a forest picnic.
Afterward, visitors will be given a Museum tour, which has a collection of 350 different species of animals and 250 different mushrooms and will participate in a mushroom tasting, following which they can buy any of 60 different kinds of mushroom products created by the Mushroom Museum.
The Museum's director, Nikos Pallas, told Athens-Macedonian News Agency, "It is an original and unique action in Greece and at European level. It is no coincidence that participants of the hunt express their enthusiasm over the experience we offered them".
Pallas said that the event also meets the museum's aim, which is to make the public aware of the very high nutritional qualities of the mushrooms and to help raise tourism to the area, contributing to its growth.
Participants are also provided with information about this special fruit. They learn about the kind of truffles that exist and how they can be used. In this way, they enrich their knowledge about what is known as the “black diamond” that is “hiding” in the ground.
The area of Meteora is a suitable place for truffle hunting development. In the region, you can find wild truffle. It is also an easily accessible place, where a bus can reach very comfortably the hunting areas.
The goal is to mark the region as a truffle hunting area in Greece and guests will have the opportunity to experience an alternative activity either in combination with a visit at the Monasteries and other sightseeing or independently.
