The daffs are out. One of my favorite times of year!
The daffs are out. One of my favorite times of year!
This was a really interesting look into the sordid world of truffle hunting and selling. I knew it was cutthroat but didn‘t realize quite how unregulated it is, or how vicious the competition is (those poor dogs 😢). The day I finished it, I coincidentally had a rather epic dinner that ended with the pictured steak with fresh Italian white truffles shaved tableside. And it was all free - my friend won the night out in a raffle! 🍄
Beneath the gloss of star chefs and crystal-laden tables, the truffle supply chain is full of drama. Who knew that a measly fungus would be responsible for assaults, robberies, frauds, and the murder of dogs??! “The Truffle Underground” is about a world I knew nothing about. And now I am obsessed.
Everyone! I did something SO cool this morning. I got to witness a TRUFFLE HUNT 🍄!! This was our sweet guide and three of his eight dogs 🐕 (each worth 6,000 euros!) and we followed them throughout this protected forest as they found 4 kilos of truffles in about 2 hours! Incredible. Truffles are shaved onto most dishes here in Umbria, and it has been delicious. I have downloaded the tagged book to learn even more now that I have some context!
If you‘ve been looking for another book along the lines of Tom Mueller‘s exposé on olive oil fraud, Extra Virginity, this is it. Everything about French black & Italian white truffles: the history, science, haute cuisine, luxury cachet, and economics—including thievery, fraud, and the poisoning of dogs. Now I know why that bottle of truffle oil I bought was so awful I threw it away: chemical compounds without any truffle at all. #audiobook
When I first placed a hold on this, I was pronouncing underground as if it was the location, the the place where a truffle grows. Then I started listening to the audiobook and realized it‘s the criminal kind of underground. Funny how the pronunciation changes with the meaning for this word, isn‘t it?
HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY!!!
Loved this book about the underbelly of the truffle industry and how it got that way. #netgalley
https://wellreadneck.wordpress.com/2019/06/04/the-truffle-underground-a-tale-of-...