The American Truffle Company digs into something special in Napa Valley

NAPA, Calif. -- The truffle game in Napa Valley has changed. That's in large part because of heroes like Zara and the American Truffle Company.

"It is very much like a treasure hunt, and whether you're hunting in the wild or if you're hunting in a truffiere that's been carefully managed, you still need a dog to find the truffle because we can't find them. We just don't have the capability to smell a truffle that could be sometimes two feet underground. Zara is our hero," said Chef Ken Frank, owner of La Toque in Napa.

Zara "the Truffle Hunter," is a furry four-legged hero that helps cultivate and find truffles in Napa. Fortunately for chefs and restaurateurs, this is a welcome development because it allows more fresh truffles for the menu.

The American Truffle Company is also excited to benefit. For the first time at this year's Napa Truffle Festival, ATC can serve fresh black Perigord truffles cultivated from Napa and Sonoma.

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"Most important part about the quality of a truffle is how it smells and how fresh it is. That's directly tied to how fresh it is. Lying down on the ground and really smelling the ground up and close, that's the only way to find out if a truffle is ripe enough to harvest," added Robert Chang, chief truffle officer of The American Truffle Company.

The Napa Truffle Festival brings together Michelin Star chefs from all over the world to Napa. This marks the first time that the American truffle industry, and the American Truffle Company, can help chefs harvest truffles locally using trained truffle dogs. This allows the festival to showcase locally grown truffles while they are still fresh.

"The reason that these truffles coming out of Napa County are so special is that they are much, much fresher than the imported versions," said Chang.

Chef Frank added, "We could have truffles to serve tonight that were dug this morning, and that's a game changer."

For more information about the American Truffle Company and Perigord truffles, visit here.