Photo Essay: Tracking The Truffle In Italy

A truffle is seen on a table in Alba, northwestern Italy, Nov. 11, 2013. Located in the heart of the Langhe, the hilly southern area of Italy's northwestern Piedmont region, Alba is the country's capital of white truffles. The prized fungus grows two to eight inches below the ground near the roots of trees. They give off an odor that lasts for a limited period of time and can be detected with the assistance of well-trained dogs and experienced hunters. Italy's output of white truffles, which are not cultivated and only grow naturally in forests, has fallen over the past few years largely because climate change has brought a damaging mix of drought and torrential rains.
REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini

Vineyards are seen at sunset in Serralunga d'Alba, in northwestern Italy, Nov. 11, 2013.
REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini

Truffle hunter Ezio Costa, 66, searches for truffles with his dog Jolly in the woods in Monchiero near Alba, northwestern Italy, Nov. 9, 2013. Costa's family have been truffle hunters for four generations.
REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini

Truffle hunter Ezio Costa, 66, searches for truffles with his dog Jolly in the woods in Monchiero near Alba, northwestern Italy, Nov. 9, 2013.
REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini

Truffle hunter Ezio Costa, 66, searches for truffles with his dog Jolly in a wood in Monchiero near Alba, northwestern Italy, Nov. 9, 2013.
REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini

Truffle hunter Ezio Costa, 66, picks up a truffle found by his dog Jolly in the woods in Monchiero near Alba, northwestern Italy, Nov. 9, 2013.
REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini

Truffle hunter Ezio Costa, 66, inspects a truffle found by his dog Jolly in the woods in Monchiero near Alba, northwestern Italy, Nov. 9, 2013.
REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini

Truffle hunter Ezio Costa, 66, inspects a truffle as he sits outside his restaurant in Monchiero near Alba, northwestern Italy, Nov. 9, 2013.
REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini

Truffle hunter Ezio Costa, 66, smells a truffle at his restaurant in Monchiero near Alba, northwestern Italy, Nov. 9, 2013.
REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini

Photographers take pictures of two truffles weighing 2.09 pounds during the World Alba White Truffle Auction in Grinzane Cavour near Alba, in northwestern Italy, Nov. 10, 2013. The two biggest truffles at the auction sold for 90,000 euros (about $120,000) to a buyer from Hong Kong.
REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini

A seller shows a truffle to consumers at the truffle market in Alba, northwestern Italy, Nov. 9, 2013.
REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini

Alessandro Boglione, chef at the Grinzane Cavour castle restaurant, cooks pasta after the World Alba White Truffles Auction in Grinzane Cavour near Alba, in north-western Italy Nov. 10, 2013.
REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini

A dish of cardoon with white truffle and pear is seen at the Guido restaurant in Serralunga d'Alba, in north-western Italy, Nov. 11, 2013.
REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini

A slice of white truffle is seen in this illustration photograph taken in Rome, Nov. 19, 2013.
REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini