Finding truffles: Documentary sniffs out a dying Italian art

A dying breed of truffle hunters and their dogs in the forests of Piedmont, Italy, are featured in the documentary ‘The Truffle Hunters’. — Photos: Sony Picture Classics

The white Alba truffle, a coveted ingredient fetching up to US$4,000 (RM16,555) a pound in the gourmet market, is a treasure found only by a dying breed of hunters and their dogs in the forests of Piedmont, Italy.

Finding the fungus, which loses its prized aroma within a week, is the livelihood of a small group of 80- to 90-year-olds captured in a documentary The Truffle Hunters, released in cinemas on Mar 12.