The oak and hornbeam forests along the Mirna River below Motovun are among the richest truffle grounds in Europe. Both white truffles (Tuber magnatum, the prized autumn variety) and black truffles (Tuber melanosporum, found in winter and spring) grow here in quantities that have made Istrian truffles internationally renowned. Local restaurants make no secret of their dependence on the ingredient — truffle appears in pasta, risotto, eggs, and cheese across the region.
Several truffle-hunting operations based around Motovun offer morning or afternoon excursions with trained dogs into the forest. The hunts run in the appropriate season — autumn for white truffles, winter and spring for black — and typically include a tasting at the end. Even without a formal hunt, the drive down from Motovun into the Mirna valley on the winding road through the forest gives a sense of the landscape that produces this improbable luxury.