By: Daniel Ayers (2022)
 
     By early 2018, Burwell Farms had harvested a truffle comparable with and often superior to the wild-harvested white truffles imported from Europe. Here is the triumphant story behind that first successful cultivation of Bianchetto truffles in North America. 
     In 2014, a team of scientists and entrepreneurs put their shoulders to the wheel and turned a grove of loblolly pines in the Tar-Pamlico River Basin of North Carolina into a thriving truffière on the historic farm of the Burwell Davis family. In a fortuitous marriage of biotechnology and agricultural know-how, Burwell Farms is producing the Bianchetto truffle -- a delicacy highly sought by chefs and previously available only through wild harvesting. Determined to make the unique flavor of this Italian white truffle a part of the American culinary tradition, Burwell Farms continues to "preach the gospel of North Carolina-grown truffles" and surpass expectations for yield and aroma.
     A collection of anecdotes, memories, and discoveries, this book tells the exciting journey of Burwell Farms, from novel idea to full-fledged agricultural operation. From the battlefields of Revolutionary North Carolina to a day in the life of Laddie the Truffle Dog, each chapter reveals a unique side of Burwell Farms. This book is much more than a narrative of Burwell Farms's trials and victories in pursuit of the Bianchetto truffle. Indeed, it is an invitation to discover the culinary treasure that is the Bianchetto truffle, and will acquaint the reader with the colorful cast of people (and dog) working ceaselessly to bring premium truffles to your table.