Truffles can grow from a couple of inches under the surface to a foot or more down. They all carry what was called a vangetto, which is kind of like a little spear with or a trowel with a long handle. It's very much like excavating, like, valuable dinosaur bones. You don't know ahead of time how big it's going to be. And often, you'll have the full excitement of a find, and you get a little beeby that' has no value at all.
Journalist and author Rowan Jacobsen talks about his book Truffle Hound with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. This conversation has nothing to do with chocolate. It's about the strange world of underground fungi, found in the forest by specially trained dogs and used by chefs and home cooks around the world. You will learn about truffle oil, cooking with truffles, truffle hounds, and the economics of all of the above.