The truffle underground : a tale of mystery, mayhem, and manipulation in the shadowy market of the world's most expensive fungus / Ryan Jacobs

Author:: Jacobs, Ryan McMahon, 1989-
Published:: New York : Clarkson Potter/Publishers, [2019]
Edition:: First edition.
Physical Description:: vi, 279 pages : illustrations, map ; 21 cm

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Contents:

Part I: The field/theft -- Black diamond bandits -- Death in the grove -- Part II: The laboratory/secrecy -- The peasant's golden secret -- A scientific mystery -- Part III: The forest/sabotage -- Disappearance of the dogs -- Poison -- Part IV: The market/deceit -- Middlemen -- Detectives and fraudsters -- The king's ascent -- The king's betrayal -- Part V: The plate/seduction -- Demanded, delivered, prepared -- Shaved.

Summary:

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 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. Through it all, a question lingers: What, other than money, draws people to these dirt-covered knobs?

Subject(s):

Genre(s):

History

ISBN:

9780451495693 paperback
0451495691 paperback

Bibliography Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 271-279).

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