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  • Jean Claude Authier finds a black truffle in the hills near his home in Puget-Theniers, Alpes-Maritimes, France, 09 February 2011. 45% of all the black truffles produced worldwide are found in France.
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  • Jean Claude Authier and Max George take their dogs hunting for truffles in the hills near Puget-Theniers, France, 09 February 2011. The general conditions in which truffles can grow are known, but truffle production is still far from being an exact science. Truffles are found in association with trees, mainly oaks: they grow underground, around the perimeter of a tree's root system. But even if the soil conditions, climate, vegetation and rainfall are ideal, a tree may host only one or two truffles. Or lots. Or none at all.
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  • A truffle fly: a telltale sign of the presence of truffles nearby, Puget-Theniers, France 09 February 2011. Females of this species, heavy with eggs, are drawn to the smell of truffles underground. They bury themselves to lay their eggs where their larvae will feed on the truffle. Truffle hunters can recognise this particular fly by its colour, shape and flight. Before he trained his dog, Max George hunted for truffles this way ('a la mouche'): closely observing the ground and tapping it with a stick to disturb any truffle flies.
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  • Max George shows his dog where to search for truffles, Puget-Theniers, France, 09 February 2011. Truffle hunters look for tell-tale visual signs in the countryside that indicate the possible presence of truffles, and encourage their trained dogs to seek thoroughly in those places.
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  • The nose of a Max George's truffle dog, Puget-Theniers, France 09 February 2011. In wild unfenced areas, truffle hunters put wire grills on the ground around known truffle trees to prevent wild boars digging up the truffles.
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  • Max George sees his dog beginning to dig for a truffle, Puget-Theniers, France, 09 February 2011.
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  • Max George smells the earth to detect the presence of truffles, Puget-Theniers, France, 09 February 2011. The truffles have a very strong aroma which scents the soil around them, attracts trained truffle dogs and helps humans locate exactly where to dig.
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  • Max George digs into the earth to find a truffle, Puget-Theniers, France, 09 February 2011. Truffles are generally found a few centimetres underground. Max digs with a screwdriver and, as he gets close to the truffle, he digs with his fingers, to avoid damaging it. After removing the truffle, the hunters cover up the hole again to preserve the ground for future truffle development - and to avoid leaving telltale clues that other hunters on the lookout might recognise.
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  • Jean Claude Authier and Max George carefully uncover a truffle they have found, Puget-Theniers, France, 09 February 2011. This plot of land is one of Jean Claude's 'truffle fields'. The land is watered and the ground kept cleared and aired to produce the optimum conditions for truffles, and young oak trees are planted in clearings. Generally, only certain trees in these fields produce truffles - season after season. The truffle hunters know exactly which ones.
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  • A half-uncovered truffle (raised mound left of centre) before it is lifted out of the soil, Puget-Theniers, France, 09 February 2011.
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  • Max George shows Jean Claude Authier a truffle found in Jean Claude's truffle field, Puget-Theniers, France, 09 February 2011. Known in French as 'trufficulture', the art of cultivating land for truffle production often claims back places where land was once maintained for agricultural use and so truffles thrived. Seventy years ago, truffles were plentiful in the Alpes Maritimes. But the decline of agriculture and exodus of people to urban areas contributed to a significant drop in the number of truffles - and consequently an increase in their value.
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  • Jean Claude Authier's dog watches closely as his master examines a truffle, Puget-Theniers, France, 09 February 2011. Truffle dogs need to be trained to search out truffles as they don't naturally have a strong preference for the flavour.
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  • Max George and Jean Claude Authier take their dogs back out of Jean-Claude's truffle field in the hills near Puget-Theniers, France, 09 February 2011. Truffle producing locations are often fenced, to ward off unwelcome visitors (and wild boars, who love the taste of truffle - the red and white tape is an extra deterrent against them). Organised teams of truffle thieves comb certain known truffle-producing valleys by night. Jean-Claude and Max harvest the truffles in their own fields several times a week in season to minimise any loss to thieves.
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  • Max George and Jean Claude Authier walk far over rough terrain in search for truffles in the Alpes Maritimes, France, 09 February 2011. Black truffles are mainly found during winter months, unaffected by cold temperatures. However, if snow is laying and the ground is frozen, the hunters and their dogs will be unable to dig.
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  • A day's collection of black truffles, Puget-Theniers, France, 09 February 2011. Known as 'black diamonds', these truffles will sell for EUR800-1000 per kilo at a local farmer's market. These truffles weigh 404g in total, the largest individual one weighing 113g.
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  • Truffle hunters Jean Claude Authier (left) and Max George (right) pose for the photographer, Puget-Theniers, Alpes Maritimes, France, 09 February 2011
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Truffle Hunters

Jean Claude Authier and Max George hunt for truffles with their dogs in the hills near Puget-Theniers, Alpes Maritimes, France, 09 February 2011.
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All images © 2004-2012, Rebecca Marshall. All rights reserved. Please do not use content without prior written permission.
Editorial and corporate photographer, Nice / Cannes / Monaco, South of France. Currently in .