Dean of Italian truffle hunters still going strong at 89

(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 6 - Italy's dean of truffle hunters is still going strong at the age of 89 after some 70 years scouring the Umbrian woods for the prized tuber and culinary delicacy with his beloved sniffer dogs.
    "I got the truffle bug from my father Domenico," said Bianchini of the activity that two years ago got onto the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage.
    "I have always worked in the fields on the family farm and I started hunting truffles at a very young age, fascinated by the unmistakable scent of the tagliatelle and gnocchi my mother Ester would make.
    Bianchini recalled that he had once fund a monster black truffle weighing over a kilo, and had had a succession of beloved truffle hounds including Zara, Brilla and Dik, "without whom I wouldn't have known where to start". (ANSA).