Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The Truffle Underground takes the reader through the fascinating underworld of the truffle industry. Beneath the glossy veneer of star chefs and crystal-laden tables, a hidden world of intrigue, sabotage, and crime undergirds the elegance of truffles: Feuding factions plant poisoned meatballs in competitors' fields to eliminate rival truffle-hunting dogs. Crime syndicates steal research from the labs of scientists attempting to cultivate them, and unsuspecting foragers are held at gunpoint while bandits lift an entire month's worth of income from their trunks. The Truffle Underground has all of the makings of the next compulsively readable food expos , a deeply researched dive into the dark origins of the world's most valuable fungus--from the scientific mysteries of their growth to the story of the hapless French farmer who discovered the secret to cultivating them, to brutal crimes in the forests and the white-collar crimes that surround this secretive industry. Through it all, a question lingers: What, other than money, draws people to these dirt-covered knobs?
Synopsis
Welcome to the underworld of the truffle. Beneath the gloss of star chefs and crystal-laden tables, a hidden world of intrigue, sabotage, and crime undergirds the elegance of truffles: Hunters plant poisoned meatballs to eliminate rival truffle-hunting dogs. Bandits hold foragers at gunpoint while lifting months' worth of income from their trunks.
The Truffle Underground is a deeply researched dive into the dark origins of the world's most valuable fungus--from the scientific mysteries of their growth, to the story of the hapless French farmer who discovered their secret, to brutal crimes in the forests and the white-collar crimes that surround this secretive industry. Through it all, a question lingers: What, other than money, draws people to these dirt-covered knobs?
Synopsis
A thrilling journey through the hidden underworld of the world's most prized luxury ingredient. 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.
Deeply reported and elegantly written, this page-turning expos 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. Through it all, a question lingers: What, other than money, draws people to these dirt-covered knobs?
Synopsis
"The ultimate truffle true crime tale"*: A thrilling journey through the hidden underworld of the world's most prized luxury ingredient. *Bianca Bosker, New York Times bestselling author of Cork Dork
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.
Deeply reported and elegantly written, this page-turning expos 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. Through it all, a question lingers: What, other than money, draws people to these dirt-covered jewels?
Advance praise for The Truffle Underground
"In elegant, mesmerizing prose, Ryan Jacobs has delivered a forest-to-table page-turner from the outer limits of our foodie culture, a place where colorful farmers, serial dog murderers and famous chefs grapple over a crudely foraged fungus that's traded in parking lots and bars, like heroin. The Truffle Underground is an eye-opener for anyone who's picked up a fork."--Steve Fainaru, New York Times bestselling author of League of Denial and Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter
"The Truffle Underground is a fascinating, genre-blending romp. It's a business book, a mystery, a science lesson, and a love story that's as seductive as the buttery fungus at the heart of it all."--Derek Thompson, national bestselling author of Hit Makers and staff writer at The Atlantic
"Investigative journalist and first-time author Jacobs does a remarkable job reporting from the front lines of the truffle industry, bringing to vivid life French black-truffle farmers, Italian white-truffle foragers, and their marvelously well-trained dogs."--Booklist (starred review)
" A] fascinating work . . . This deeply researched and eye-opening account of the lengths people will go for wealth, gratification, and a taste of the prized fungus will captivate readers."--Publishers Weekly