西班牙東部的土豪松露遊

Halfway between Manzanera and Mora de Rubielos the car radio signal dies. The rest is silence, and a lonely road winding through a high plateau ringed with crags and pine forests. The shepherd leading his flock through the dry stalks of a fallow field is the only person I see on this half-hour journey.

汽車行至曼薩內拉(Manzanera)與莫拉-德魯別洛斯村(Mora de Rubielos)半途時，車載收音機就收不到任何廣播信號了。此時萬籟俱寂，只剩孤零零的公路蜿蜒於峭壁林立與松樹密佈的高原山區。在整個半小時的車程中，領着羊羣穿過一片佈滿幹麥稈的休耕地的牧羊人成了我們見到的唯一的人。

Welcome to Gúdar Javalambre. This remote county in eastern Spain covers 2,350 sq km but contains only 24 villages and fewer than 9,000 inhabitants. It belongs to Teruel, one of the three provinces of Aragón and a region best known in Spain for Teruel Existe (“Teruel exists”), a citizens’ campaign launched in 2000 to call for more investment and to fight depopulation. This land of massive skies and tiny population densities — as low as 3.7 people per square kilometre — reminds you how vast and empty much of Spain still is, away from the boisterous cities and teeming coasts.

歡迎蒞臨古達爾-哈瓦爾佈雷縣(Gúdar Javalambre)。這座位於西班牙東部的偏僻縣面積達2350平方公里，但全縣只有24個村落，居民不到9000人。它隸屬於特魯埃爾省(Teruel)，是阿拉貢自治區(Aragón)所屬三省之一，該地區以“拯救特魯埃爾”(Teruel Existe)名聞西班牙，這是2000年發起的一項全民運動，旨在呼籲更多投資以及與積極應對人口減少現象。這片地廣人稀之地（每平方公里只有3.7人）提醒諸位西班牙仍是幅員遼闊、人煙稀少的國家，遠非喧囂的都市以及人滿爲患的沿海地區給人的印象。

Gúdar Javalambre’s efforts to forge a future are a fine example of the adage that necessity is the mother of invention. The climate here can be harsh and the soil is too poor and dry for arable agriculture. Communications are not all they could be. Yet the county is doing what it can to get ahead. As interest grows in lesser-known parts of Spain’s unspoilt interior, visitors are increasingly being drawn to Gúdar Javalambre’s wild natural beauty and gourmet products, such as its superb air-dried ham. There is good infrastructure at ski resorts such as Valdelinares and Javalambre, and the new A23 motorway has brought Valencia airport within a 90-minute drive. The absence of light pollution in the skies — plus the news that Galáctica, an observatory/museum of global importance, is scheduled to open here this year — has led to the rise of “astro-tourism” in the county, with guided starlight walks.

古達爾-哈瓦爾佈雷爲開創美好未來付出的不懈努力，絕好地詮釋了“需要是發明之母”的格言。這兒氣候條件惡劣、土地太過貧瘠與乾旱，不適於農業耕作，此外交通也極不便利。然而，該縣正竭盡所能利用一切可利發展的條件。隨着遊客對人跡罕至、鮮爲人知的西班牙內陸地區興趣漸濃，他們越來越流連忘返於古達爾-哈瓦爾佈雷縣的自然旖旎風光與美食（如美不勝收的風乾火腿），巴爾德利納雷斯(Valdelinares)與哈瓦爾佈雷(Javalambre)等滑雪勝地的基礎設施一應俱全，新的A23號高速公路通車後，距巴倫西(Valencia)機場僅1.5小時車程。此地毫無光污染以及世界級Galáctica天文臺/博物館將於今年正式開館的消息，引發了該縣的“天文觀測遊”熱，即導遊引領的星夜漫步旅遊。

But the most remarkable draw is the truffle. Until the 1960s the sought-after fungus was little known in Spain and European truffle culture was dominated by the French and Italians. But since the discovery that the “black diamond” could be grown in the meagre soil of Teruel, the province has experienced a production boom. Planting began in the 1980s and some 6,500 hectares of truffle-producing carrasca oak trees are now under cultivation.

但最引人注目的旅遊項目是找挖松露。在上世紀60年代前，這種珍稀美味在西班牙鮮爲人知，歐洲的松露文化主要由法國人與意大利人打造。但自從發現這種“黑色鑽石”能存活於特魯埃爾貧瘠的土壤後，該省就開始了大規模種植。上世紀80年代正式拉開了種植松露的序幕，如今該地區播種了約6500公頃生長松露的矮橡樹林。

I have come to the county for a long weekend at La Trufa Negra, a hotel whose pioneering “truffle tourism” package includes a truffle-hunting expedition with dogs, a truffly tasting-menu and truffle-based therapies in the hotel spa. Now in its fourth year, “trufiturismo” at the hotel has grown to the point where it brings in 60 or more customers on any given Saturday, in a season that lasts from November until March.

我們入住於古達爾-哈瓦爾佈雷縣的La Trufa Negra酒店度週末長假，這家酒店推出的“松露旅遊套餐”包括了獵狗找尋松露旅行、品嚐松露定價餐以及松露spa。如今酒店的“松露旅遊套餐”已推出四年，生意火爆，每個週六能吸納60位（甚至更多）遊客入住，從每年11月一直持續至次年三月。

At the heart of Teruel’s truffle zone lie a pair of pretty, historic villages with confusingly similar names: Mora de Rubielos and Rubielos de Mora. La Trufa Negra is in the former (known locally as Mora) and is surprisingly sleek, designed in a modernist style that contrasts sharply with the rustichotelitos of the area. It is the first venture in hotel-keeping from the Pérez family, whose nearby estate La Masía El Olmo is a major truffle producer.

就在特魯埃爾松露種植中心區域，坐落着兩座名字類似、卻讓人暈菜的迷人古村莊：莫拉-德魯別洛斯與德魯別洛斯-莫拉(Rubielos de Mora)。La Trufa Negra酒店坐落於前者（當地人稱爲莫拉村），特別時尚（着實出人意料），由現代主義建築風格設計而成，它與本地區的諸多“鄉村酒店”(rustichotelitos)建築風格大相徑庭。這是佩雷斯家族涉足酒店行業的第一家，附近的La Masía El Olmo莊園則是主要的松露產地。

The Pérezes have long been one of Mora’s more prominent families. Emilio, the patriarch, was a farmer before he bought the village’s first lorry in 1963 and founded a transport company which became the cornerstone of his business empire. The new generation are his granddaughter Alexandra, 26, who runs the hotel, and her sister Alba, 20, a student of agronomy who, together with their father Miguel, looks after La Masía El Olmo.

佩雷斯家族一直是莫拉村的名門望族。家族企業創辦人埃米利奧(Emilio)曾是農民，1963年購買了該村首輛大卡車後，建立了運輸公司，從此奠定了其龐大商業帝國的基礎。家族年輕一代的代表是埃米利奧26歲的孫女亞歷山德拉(Alexandra)，她負責家族酒店經營；亞歷山德拉20歲的妹妹阿爾芭(Alba)是農學專業學生，與她們的老爸米格爾(Miguel)一起掌管La Masía El Olmo莊園。

La Trufa Negra is a shrine to its namesake. Black truffles from the family farm are a mainstay of Melanosporum, the hotel restaurant where chef Victor Pérez (no relation) showcases them in dishes ranging from the luxuriously plain (olive oil-macerated carpaccio of truffle on toast) to the plainly luxurious (salad of truffle shavings and duck ham with peach and curry vinaigrette). Truffles are sold in the lobby, fresh, steeped in brandy, and infused in cheese and longaniza sausage. They also feature on the menu at the hotel spa, which claims its truffle-derived cocktail of vitamins, minerals and polyphenols works as a “natural Botox” for the skin.

與松露同名的La Trufa Negra酒店是美食饕餮們的聖地。家族農莊出產的各種黑松露是酒店餐廳Melanosporum的“鎮館美食”，其大廚維克多•佩雷斯（Victor Pérez，與家族並無親戚關係）向我們展示了各色松露：從既好看簡約的橄欖油煎炸松露薄片吐司到賞心悅目型（用桃汁與咖啡汁調出的松露屑火腿鴨沙拉）。松露就在酒店大廳裏銷售——新鮮松露浸泡在白蘭地中，其它則做在乾酪與灌在longaniza香腸中。它們還是酒店spa中心的特色項目，該中心自詡從松露中提取的混合物富含維生素、礦物質以及多酚類物質，對皮膚的療效就如同“天然肉毒桿菌”(Botox)般神奇。

On a rapidly darkening Friday afternoon I make the short drive to Mora’s twin village, Rubielos de Mora. I have been enchanted by Mora’s 14th-century church of Santa Maria la Mayor, a glorious Gothic barn, and the village’s mighty castle in dust-coloured stone, which would not look out of place in Game of Thrones. But Rubielos de Mora is, if anything, even more impressive architecturally. The grandeur of its 27 historic mansions gives an idea of the village’s once-enormous wealth, derived from the wool trade, which reached its peak in the 16th century.

星期五的傍晚時分，我抽出一點時間，開車短暫造訪了莫拉村的姐妹村——德魯別洛斯-莫拉村。本人曾流連忘返於莫拉村建於14世紀的Santa Maria la Mayor教堂、一座恢宏的哥特式風格的穀倉以及灰褐色石頭蓋成的雄偉城堡，它與《權力的遊戲》(Game of Thrones)中的城堡相比也絲毫不遜色。但德魯別洛斯-莫拉村的建築更顯氣度不凡。27座氣派的老宅似乎在昭示這裏曾經的極度富奢，其財富來自於羊毛貿易，16世紀時達到頂峯。

The truffle, Gúdar Javalambre’s newest hope for potential riches, is less in evidence here, though if the menus in the tapas bars and restaurants are anything to go by, it is gradually finding a place in the cuisine. That evening at Los Leones, a fine little palace-hotel, owner Manuel Górriz serves me an aged sirloin steak adorned with thin truffle slices bestowing a pungent aroma on the simply cooked meat.

松露最有希望成爲古達爾-哈瓦爾佈雷縣未來財富的來源，但它在本地卻並不引人注目，儘管如果按照小餐館與高檔餐廳的菜單來衡量，它已逐漸成爲本地餐飲的必備美食。當晚，精緻小巧的Los Leones豪華酒店老闆曼努埃爾•格里斯(Manuel Górriz)用沙朗熟成牛排——在煮熟的牛肉上，就用散發着濃郁香氣的松露小薄片點綴——熱情款待了我們。

Back in Mora, Saturday dawns bright and bracing. I take my place along with eight other “truffle tourists” — they include a chef, a cherry farmer and a food-loving family from Bilbao — in the hotel screening room where Alexandra Pérez offers us an introductory course in thetrufa as species, crop and ingredient. Thanks to her explanations I learn the taxonomy of the truffle family and to easily distinguish Tuber magnatum, the renowned wild truffle of Piedmont, from Tuber aestivum, the milder-flavoured summer truffle, andTuber melanosporum, the black winter truffle traditionally associated with Périgord in southwest France but now cultivated here on such a scale that local producers claim Teruel accounts for a fifth of the global crop.

第二天（星期六）一大早回到莫拉村，陽光明媚、沁人心脾。我與另外八位“松露遊客”（包括一位廚師、一位櫻桃園主以及來自畢爾巴鄂(Bilbao)的一位美食饕餮）一起就座於酒店的放映室，由亞歷山德拉•佩雷斯(Alexandra Pérez)向我們普及了松露作爲物種、作物以及調味品的入門知識。正是得益於她的介紹，我才得以區分清各種松露，知道如何一下子辨別白松露菌（Tuber magnatum，產於皮埃蒙特(Piedmont)的名貴野生松露）、黑松露（Tuber aestivum，味道溫和的夏塊菌）以及黑孢松露(Tuber melanosporum)。黑孢松露這種黑色冬塊菌原先產於法國東南部的佩利哥(Périgord)，如今在特魯埃爾大規模種植，當地種植者自豪地宣稱此地出產的松露佔據了全球五分之一的產量。