Truffles (Replay)

The Economics of Everyday Things

It takes fungi-sniffing dogs, back-room deals, and a guy named “The Kingpin” for the world’s most coveted morsel to end up on your plate. Zachary Crockett picks up the scent.

• SOURCES:
  • Jason McKinney, co-founder and C.E.O. of Truffle Shuffle.
  • Besart Morina, truffle dealer.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Dogs Pay the Price in Italian Truffle War," by Margherita Stancati (The Wall Street Journal, 2022).
  • "How Truffles Took Root Around the World," by Federico Kukso (Smithsonian Magazine, 2022).
  • "Has the American-Grown Truffle Finally Broken Through?" by Rowan Jacobsen (Smithsonian Magazine, 2021).
  • "Sonoma County Farm Strikes Black Truffle Gold After 9 Years of Waiting," by Jenn Harris (Los Angeles Times, 2021).
  • "In Nicolas Cage’s ‘Pig,’ How Much Is the Truffle Hog Worth Anyway?" by Victoria Petersen (The New York Times, 2021).
  • "Predicted Climate Change Will Increase the Truffle Cultivation Potential in Central Europe," by Tomáš Čejka, Miroslav Trnka, Paul J. Krusic, Ulrich Stobbe, Daniel Oliach, Tomáš Václavík, Willy Tegel, and Ulf Büntgen (Nature Scientific Reports, 2020).
  • "Inside the Exceptionally Shady World of Truffle Fraud," by Ryan Jacobs (Eater, 2019).
  • "Truffle Thieves Face Paramilitary Threat," by Kim Willsher (The Guardian, 2012).
  • "The Hidden Life of Truffles," by James M. Trappe and Andrew W. Claridge (Scientific American, 2010).
  • "Cultivation of Black Truffle to Promote Reforestation and Land-Usestability," by José Antonio Bonet, Christine R. Fischer, and Carlos Colinas (Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 2006).