A tribute to the Langhe and its golden menMarch 15, the Oscar nominations were made official. There was much anticipation in the Langa as to whether “The Truffle Hunters,” the documentary filmed in the Langa and Monferrato by U.S. filmmakers Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw, had been nominated in its category.

Unfortunately, the prestigious nomination did not come, but it matters little. The Langa, its people and traditions are still at the center of a content that will bring visibility to a land that never ceases to give surprises. “The Truffle Hunters,” in Italian “I cercatori di tartufo,” had already garnered a great deal of critical acclaim and major awards at top film festivals last year.

We talked about this and what it means to be a “truffle hunter” together with a “trifulau” as young as Filippo Rigo, the owner of Dori, his faithful friend and “colleague”.The White Truffle Hunt of Alba celebrated by American cinemaTheTruffle Hunters has already made thousands oftruffle hunters discuss their work. Produced by Luca Guadagnini, which had its world premiere at the 2020 Sundance Festival, the documentary is entirely shot between the Langhe and Monferrato, and tells a story of passion and love for nature, dogs and old traditions that are passed down from father to son in the Langa.

It is the tale of four “trifulau,” over eighty, who conceal secrets about their hunting grounds, and who feel an indescribable love for their taboj (a word in the Piedmontese dialect whose pronunciation is “tabui” and identifies the very faithful truffle dog) and their land. It is the story of a community that lives by the stories passed down from grandparents, and that passes down from generation to generation the art ofdog training and knowledge of the forest. It is a glimpse of a way that seems far away, without cell phones, without noise and without frenzy, that will make us appreciate a slow and genuine lifestyle.Dory’s Moon: when the passion for truffle hunting is passed down between generationsTo better understand this fantastic world of truffle hunters and truffle dogs, we interviewed Filippo Rigo, who in 2019 together with his partner created the Facebook page “Dory’s Moon,” dedicating it to his beloved 4-year-old French bracco.

The project was created with the intention of promoting to discover a thousand-year-old tradition by offering tours of about an hour and a half. It starts with a real lesson on plants, the tuber, and the woods, then off to search for truffles with a snack in the woods until a Piedmont-style lunch to fully experience a day as true Piedmontese.

Filippo, in addition to being a new generation trifulao, followed in his grandfather’s footsteps; together with his sister Daniela and friend Andrea Salatin, he founded in 2005
Cascina Rabaglio
where hazelnuts and vines are grown and wine is produced. It was his grandfather John Baptist, who taught Philip all the secrets of becoming a truffle hunter. But let’s start with dog training.

“It isvery difficult to find the right dog,” says Philip, “lhe search is a game, like finding a ball or a person. At first you hide a small truffle under a stone, then deeper and deeper, and every time the dog finds a truffle you must always reward it with a delicious treat. The search is not easy, because there are so many smells in the woods that can confuse the dog, you have to be very patient, go out with him many times without getting impatient also because the sense of smell is refined as he grows, as he becomes more adult Potentially every breed can become a truffle dog, although some have a greater predisposition“.

This tale alone would be enough to make us want to go truffle hunting, but we want something more, we want to know how truffles are born and how to recognize them.The white truffle of Alba, as precious as a diamondThe truffle is a kind of sentinel of the forest, Filippo in fact tells us about the environment in which it is born and grows: “Truffles are hypogeous fungi, that is, they grow underground in symbiosis with particular plants, and depending on the location and pH of the soil. They belong to the genus Tuber and the family Ascomycetes. There are different types of truffles, macro-subdivided into white and black truffles“. Among the whites, of course, the Albatruffle stands out:“It is the famous Tuber magnatum; among the black truffles, on the other hand, we find the summer truffle (also called scorzone, Tuber aestivum, ed.), Tuber macrosporum, Tuber mesentericum , Tuber brumale and uncinato. Each differs in its season of harvest, shape, olfactory and taste properties.” We realized that the flavor of truffles depends so much on the flora present, the type of soil, and the moisture.

Filippo also explains to us that the plants most akin to symbiosis are willows, poplars and hornbeams typical of the wetter areas, while on the ridges, rocks and in places with southern exposure and more marly soils we will find plants of the quercus genus (oak, downy oak, oak, farnia and turkey oak…). Listening to his story little by little we understand why the truffle is so rare and prized, especially the white Alba truffle, which is the only non-cultivable species, the only wild one that is clearly affected by pollution and climate change, so in recent years it has begun to become scarce and even more in demand.

We end this account with Filippo’s words, which better than any documentary can describe what we will also experience during our Vespa tour in search of truffles. “We need to learn respect for the forest. We enter a place that is not ours, but of the animals that live there; we must be polite visitors who do not alter the beautiful balance of the forest. It is a system where silence is the watchword. Truffle hunting brings forth a different contact with what surrounds us, digging with our hands the earth, feeling the scents. This is the real mystery“.PHOTO CREDIT:

http://tickets.thetrufflehuntersmovie.com/ : official website of the documentary “The Truffle Hunters” – © 2021 SONY PICTURES CLASSICS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Filippo Rigo – La Luna di Dori: Facebook page and official website

The article was written by Barbara Corbisiero

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