Tartuflanghe

Tartuflanghe grew out of a restaurant. In 1968, chef Giuseppe 'Beppe' Montanaro opened Da Beppe in the historic center of Alba, in Piedmont's Langhe hills, and the restaurant became known — including recognition from the Michelin guide — as a destination for truffle and mushroom cooking. Beppe and his wife, Domenica Bertolusso, began sourcing and selling fresh truffles from the Piedmont region alongside the restaurant, and in 1975 formalized that trade into a company. Domenica devised the company's name by fusing 'tartufo,' the Italian word for truffle, with 'Langhe,' the name of the hilly area around Alba where the tubers are foraged. The company built its packaged-goods business on truffle-based products — oils, sauces, and preserved truffle — sold alongside fresh Tuber magnatum (white truffle) in season. In 1990 its laboratory developed what it describes as the first truffle-infused pasta, marketed as Tartufissima, which won a Best New Product award at New York's Summer Fancy Food Show in 1992.