The truffle hog or truffle pig is a domestic pig used for locating and extracting a type of fungus known as truffles from temperate forests in Europe and North America. The pigs have a good sense of smell and are able to identify truffles from as low as three feet underground. It is thought that the natural sex hormones of the male pig are similar to the smell of the truffles and also pigs have a natural affinity for rooting in the earth for food. They are trained to hunt truffles by walking on a leash through suitable groves with a keeper.
The use of the pig to hunt truffles is said to date back to the Roman Empire, but the first well-documented use comes from Bartolomeo Platina in the 15th century. Later references to truffle pigs include John Ray in the 17th century.
In 1875, a truffle hog could cost up to 200 francs . A skilled truffler could more than make up for this investment due to the high price of truffles on the gourmet food market. Today it is common for dogs (known as "Truffle hounds") as well as truffle hogs to be used in the gathering of truffles because hogs have been known to eat too many truffles in the field. However, traditionalists argue that the swine have more sensitive noses and their particular taste for truffles leads to a more devoted beast. It is frequent for the hog to be a family pet of the truffler.
Pouring up the wine from yesterday
It tastes the same today
Awakes the lynx in me
Songs have often drawn me by their tales
An urge to set the sails
And go beyond the whales
Gathering the best in everything
And all the places where I used to go
Wondering still not wandering
A cowards heart refuses me to know
Swallowing a journey from a glass
Dividing emptiness and wine becomes a gas
All I have is what I need to give
In songs I breathe and live
The source will never leave
Gathering the best in everything....
In this travelogue I went nowhere
But my brain was always in the air....out somewhere
Since the day I heard the dring I never left my chair
I never left my chair... I never left my chair.....
All I ever wanted was to swim and drown my fear of swimming...(and the water)
And on the other side to find the peace of soul and mind and you and I
A tickle in my nose of distant hills, beneath the crows upon the blue, I want to go
By the time the moon has set on Cairo
I will already be walking in Berlin
When the wind blows sand through streets in Rio
I will already be driving in London
I’ll travel 'round the world
In the hope that I will find you
One day you'll turn around
And find me there behind you
Past people and the places
Through cities and the streets
A million different places
Just so we could meet
By the time the stars shall rise in Shanghai
I will already be moving through New York
When the rain runs down the alleys in Paris
I will be riding the train to Tokyo
To travel 'round the globe
On the chance that I will find you
Someday you'll look around
And see me there beside you
Past the figures and the places
Through temples and the fairs
A million different hours
I will find you there
By the time the sun casts shade in Hong Kong
I will already be flying to Sydney
When snow starts to fall on the crowds in Seoul
I will already be waiting in Prague
I’ll travel 'round the world
In the hope that I will find you
One day you'll turn around
And I'll be there behind you
From villages to hamlets
Over dirt and the concrete
A million different moments
Call back the cards now and
Lay down the pen
Take off your glasses
And unpack your things
Feel with your thumbs the
Edge of your chin and
Hold your hands up again
I lower my head now I
Halt and I stand
i follow the lines in
The palm of my hand
Feel with my thumbs the
Dust on my skin and
No, I will not dream again
I'm ready now, I'm going now
Nowhere
Don't take me out, I'm breaking out
In air
I'm ready now, I'm going now
Nowhere
Bring me some water and
Don't bring me wine
Turn off the movie
Let it be time
Destroy all the airplanes I'll
Sleep on the floor
We must dream no more
I'm ready now, I'm going now
Nowhere
Don't take me out, I'm breaking out
In air
I kill the fire, I'll close the doors
And I watch you