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The White Truffle of Alba “Rocche del Roero” is the typical geographical name of the first cru in Italy dedicated to the Truffle. It was created on the initiative of the Rocche del Roero Trufflemakers’ Association and aimed to promote the product by linking it to the identity of the territory and its unique characteristics.
The sea made all the difference. Yes, sea, because once upon a time here where the beautiful hills of the Roero now rise, there was saltwater. And the ochre-yellow sands that now characterize this land up to the Tertiary were the seabed. Now they form the layers of land that make up the backbone of the Roero, the so-called Rocche, the hilly system that goes from Pocapaglia to Cisterna d’Asti, at the centre of which is Vezza d’Alba. And the White Truffle of Alba Rocche del Roero, the first cru in Italy as we used to say, comes from these very lands. Still, it doesn’t stop here; on the contrary, it goes around the world and arrives on the tables of passionate gourmets and starred restaurants from Japan to France.
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The best ambassodor, and truffles philosopher, Andrea Rossano, is a person who remains faithful to his land, and who lives, works and wants to stay in the Roero. For him, the region is as a precious good that needed to be shown the whole world.
He travels, he with his precious wooden boxes with even more precious contents. He travels the world, delivers truffles, organizes dinners, spreads the culture of his Roero. And then he returns to his Roero. Because it is from here that it all started, since his parents, restaurateurs of Vezza d’Alba, used to get their supplies from the local trifolaomaking a careful selection of quality and origin.
“I owe much of my passion for this job and especially for this territory to them. I owe the success of this activity, which today is the best business card for this territory, to my tenacity and desire to do it”. Never had any help, one of those people who, as they say, “is a selfmade success“. And alone he began to travel the world to spread the truffle culture of his lands, and spread it in a real way: a diamond to be presented as such, with a story to accompany it and a packaging to enhance it.
No wicker baskets with straw, no polystyrene packaging for food use, none of this: a precious wooden box with the words Tartufingros – Alba – Italia was a winning idea, which was enormously successful because it gave value to the product.
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Same as for wine bottles, Andrea was able to provide a label for truffles too, making them recognizable and known in the world, as well as enhancing them. pose is just that: to expose the Tuber Magnatum Pico in the best possible way. To create the desire to come to our territory, and that’s why he still shows his customers pictures of truffles and the correct way to display them in the restaurant, like real diamonds. Andrea Rossano in his long career has visited starred restaurants around the world and has met famous people, royalty, VIPs, artists, politicians and sportsmen, as well as important chefs representing international cuisine.
Yet he has never forgotten his land and has always worked to make it grow, to improve it and to spread it around the world, with great ideas and clear foresight.
In 2000 he established the Truffle of the Year award of the Roero in which leading figures such as Carlin Petrini, Bruno Ceretto, Alain Delon, Sergio Marchionne, Vittorio Sgarbi, Sophia Loren and last year, representing the territory of the White Truffle, Liliana Allena, president of the fair organization. In 2017 the town of Vezza d’Alba inaugurated the didactic truffle-growing area of the Roero, naming it after Andrea Rossano, as the biggest truffle trader in the Roero, Langhe, Monferrato area.
This area neglected impenetrable in the past is now destined to the Truffle valorization, and the Truffle is available to the tourists. In 2017 was born the first cru of white truffles in Italy called white truffles of Alba “Rocche del Roero”. Andrea Rossano himself says: “In these years we at Roero as an association understood that we had to be serious, to guarantee the product its particular origin. We formed the first cru “White truffle of Alba” botanical name, Rocche del Roero with the geographical designation. An extraordinary goal that will undoubtedly reward you in the future”.
Andrea Rossano is true Ambassador of his blessed land and its products.
Article edit by Nadia Toppino
Food, Wine & Hospitality Journalist
