Music is not Matteo Bocelli’s only passion. The Tuscan singer, son of Andrea Bocelli, is also a keen truffle hunter — an interest that has now earned him a new role as the first official international ambassador for the truffles of the San Miniato hills.
The appointment was announced by the Municipality of San Miniato, in the province of Pisa, and the San Miniato Promozione Foundation as part of a wider initiative to promote the area’s food, culture and tourism internationally.
For Bocelli, however, the connection with truffles goes back long before the new title.
A passion that began at 14
Bocelli began truffle hunting when he was 14, introduced to the tradition by Fausto Fiorentini, a longtime family friend who took him into the Tuscan countryside in search of the prized underground fungus.
The pastime has remained part of his life despite his increasingly international music career. Whenever his schedule allows, Bocelli returns to the woods to search for truffles.
He is now accompanied by Tosca, his dog — named after Giacomo Puccini’s opera — who is also learning to find them.
The appointment therefore links Bocelli’s international profile with a tradition deeply rooted in the part of Tuscany where his family has long-standing ties.
The white truffle country around San Miniato
San Miniato, roughly halfway between Florence and Pisa, is one of Tuscany’s best-known truffle centres. Its surrounding countryside is particularly associated with the white truffle, Tuber magnatum Pico, one of the most highly prized varieties in Italian cuisine.
Truffle hunting is an important part of the rural culture of the area, with knowledge of suitable woods, seasons and trained dogs traditionally passed from one generation to another.
Bocelli’s appointment also marks the launch of the new Colline Sanminiatesi initiative, bringing together 30 municipalities across the provinces of Pisa and Florence. The aim is to present the wider area through its landscape, local food, cultural heritage and tourism.
Having a Tuscan artist with an international audience as its first ambassador is intended to give the initiative greater visibility outside Italy, while Bocelli’s personal experience as a truffle hunter provides a direct connection with the tradition he will represent.
San Miniato prepares for its white truffle fair
The annual event turns San Miniato into one of Tuscany’s main destinations for truffle lovers, with the historic centre becoming a showcase for white truffles and other local products during the peak of the season.
This year, visitors may have another reason to associate the San Miniato truffle with a familiar name: away from concert halls and recording studios, Matteo Bocelli will also be representing one of Tuscany’s oldest countryside traditions.
(Photos: Matteo Bocelli, taken from In Toscana)
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