The book delves into the growth of truffles which tend to grow under trees with acorns. I wouldn't know the difference but there is a big one and the experts can tell you that is more than money. If you eat a truffle product like truffle butter or oil you are probably eating inferior truffles. I will tell you that I learned that truffles from Italy are the best and heaven forbid that you eat any from Croatia or China. I hadn't realized how complex the truffle world is. I will confess that I have never knowingly eaten truffles but I did order some truffle zest after I finished the book. Oprah loves her truffles especially truffle salt and truffle zest and never leaves home without them. This is one of the facts I learned in this book. I have been known to travel without truffle salt unlike Oprah. Even McDonald's thought about joining the truffle band wagon, experimenting with a truffle mayo. Flours, sauces, butter, salt, oils, cheese and more. I didn't realized all the products there are that flaunt its taste. I've never had a truffle, white or black nor a by-product of this earthy gem. Well worth the read, both informative and entertaining. It's hard to believe that something as innocent as a mushroom can be compared to the illicit world of cocaine and heroin. The criminals they hunt are often connected to organized crime and are dangerous. Thousands of officers work to keep impostor food off our shelves and out of our stomachs. Similar to how the FBI investigates many crimes, the Italian NAS and other organizations takes the investigation of food fraud seriously. There are deaths however, to both human and animals, frequently to those protecting the fungus or to the dog breeds that hunt the underground gold. Theft, secrecy, fraud, intrigue, and unlike one where the serial killer is at center, this one left me salivating for a taste of the prize. The Truffle Underground: A Tale of Mystery, Mayhem, and Manipulation in the Shadowy Market of the World's Most Expensive Fungus, Ryan Jacobs, delivers all that I crave in the genre. It doesn't have to be about a serial killer but don't let an innocuous sounding subject fool you that no harm to life or limb has occurred. Give me a well written True Crime book any day.
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