Fab Fungus

Well-trained dogs and their 'sick' humans are hunting gastronomic gold in truffle country, Celine Cornu and Giovanni Grezzi report from Alba, Italy.

'It is not a job. It's a passion, a real sickness!" It is the early hours of the morning and Giovanni Sacchetto is explaining why chilly autumn nights find him trailing by moonlight through the woods around Alba in the Piedmont region of northern Italy. Sacchetto, 64, and his beloved companion Dora, a sprightly Lagotto Romagnolo gundog, are on the hunt for white truffles, the hard-to-find fungi famed among foodies for their earthy scent, and their equally heady prices. "I can go to bed at 11 pm and be up again at 3 am, ready to go out again," Sacchetto says. "It is not for the money. It is a sickness you have inside.

"A truffle is a strange thing. And it's lovely, because it's so strange. You never know where you might find one. Never."