In this film “Pig”, Nicolas Cage plays a hermit truffle farmer who lives in the forests of Oregon with his truffle sow until the day he is assaulted. His sow is stolen from him and he starts looking for her. If the performance of Nicolas Cage is apparently bluffing according to the first reviews, training a truffle pig is again a certain talent during the black truffle season in Périgord, from December to the end of February.
– Charlotte jousserand
– Charlotte jousserand
Expertise for nearly 60 years
Daniel Chaume, a retired Perigord farmer, has been developing it since he was 12 years old. It was his neighbor “Marcelline” who introduced him to this art. 58 years later, at the age of 70, Daniel Chaume continues to train sows in search of truffles. “with gestures, with words because I’m sure they understand and once it’s learned, it’s for life”. With their snouts, sows search for truffles, bring them to light and learn not to eat them “but you have to be quick and have good dexterity” explains Daniel Chaume to recover the truffle and give the reward to the animal.
If Daniel’s relatives, including his grandson Lugan, know the technique, the sows really only obey Daniel, explains Michele, his wife. “He is in symbiosis with her”. With other people, “the sows are less diligent” explains Daniel “they will tend to nibble on truffles”.
“She’s the one in charge”
At the moment, Daniel Chaume is raising two sows, Rosalie just one year old and Nini who already has five. Nini, two beautiful hairy pink ears and more than 200 kilos on the scales, a hell of a character but a champion’s record “once she managed to find 12 kilos of truffles in an hour, that a dog does not “. Unlike truffle dogs, the pig can search all day long, “she doesn’t care, she searches” describes Daniel Chaume. “We can leave all morning and all afternoon, I’m always behind her, she’s in charge, we’re not moving quickly but it’s regular”.
“It’s like a dog except she doesn’t get on the couch”
Daniel Chaume and his wife Michèle had dozens of sows at home, in the pigsty. They trained them, raised them when they were very small. Obviously a bond is created with the animal “from the moment we understand what she wants, how she wants to walk, we get along well” explains the truffle farmer and then “no way they end up in ham, you can imagine we dated for 15 years (on average the lifespan of a pig), we will not mess with them, on the contrary we pamper them”.