Truffle hunting in Italy

The city of Alba is located in the heart of Langhe, the hilly southern part of the northwestern Piedmont region of Italy. Alba is famous all over the country and beyond its borders for its white truffles - a noble variety of a valuable breed of mushrooms that grow underground. Truffles hide at a depth of 5 to 20 cm near the roots of trees. They emit a specific odor that lasts for a limited period of time and can only be detected with the help of well-trained dogs and experienced mushroom hunters. The extraction of white truffles, which are not bred in greenhouses, but grow only in natural conditions - in forests, has recently fallen. The reason for this is climate change in Italy: recurring droughts interspersed with heavy rains.

The picking season for these mushrooms in Italy is in November. The white truffle is short-lived, it grows on the roots of trees and begins to wither as soon as it is taken out of the ground. Even in the most ideal conditions, it can retain its taste for only 10 days.

(Total 13 photos)

All photos: Reuters / Stefano Rellandini

1. Truffle hunter 66-year-old Ezio Costa examines the found mushrooms at the entrance to his restaurant in Monchiero, near Alba, in northwestern Italy. November 9, 2013.

2. Truffle.

3. Ezio Costa is looking for truffles with his dog Jolly in the forest near Monchiero. Alba, northwest Italy.

4. Mushroom pickers at dawn near Serralunga d'Alba (Serralunga d'Alba) in northwestern Italy. November 11, 2013.

5.

6. Ezio Costa examines the found truffles.

7.

8. Ezio Costa sniffs the smell of found mushrooms.

9. Photographers photograph two 950-gram truffles at the world-famous white truffle auction in the village of Grinzane Cavour, in Alba, northwest Italy, on November 10, 2013.

10. The seller shows the goods to buyers at the truffle market in Alba.

11. A slice of white truffle. Rome, Italy, November 19, 2013.

12. Alessandro Boglione, chef at the castle restaurant in Grinzane Cavour, prepares pasta after the world-famous white truffle auction in Alba, northwest Italy, November 10, 2013.

13. Cooked cardoon with white truffles and pears on a platter in Serralunga d'Alba restaurant.