The Truffle Underground by Ryan Jacobs
TITLE: The Truffle Underground: A Tale of Mystery, Mayhem, and Manipulation in the Shadowy Market of the World's Most Expensive Fungus
AUTHOR: Ryan Jacobs
DATE PUBLISHED: 2019
FORMAT: Paperback
ISBN-13: 9780451495693
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DESCRIPTION:
"Beneath the gloss of star chefs and crystal-laden tables, the truffle supply chain is touched by theft, secrecy, sabotage, and fraud. Farmers patrol their fields with rifles and fear losing trade secrets to spies. Hunters plant poisoned meatballs to eliminate rival truffle-hunting dogs. Naive buyers and even knowledgeable experts are duped by liars and counterfeits.
This exposé documents the dark, sometimes deadly crimes at each level of the truffle’s path from ground to plate, making sense of an industry that traffics in scarcity, seduction, and cash."
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REVIEW:
An informative and entertaining exposé of the Truffle business (from land to table and all the bits inbetween) - theft, secrecy, fraud, intrigue, and death. Who knew there was all this underground shenanigans for a fungus! The writing style is that of an investigative reporter - so lots of interviews with lots of people. I found the beginning half dealing with truffles and truffle hunting interesting, the distribution, scheming around selling the fungus, and law "enforcement" not so much.
7
