# France: The Truffle Underground

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-history-of-fresh-produce-6999611/france-the-truffle-underground
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-history-of-fresh-produce-6999611/france-the-truffle-underground.md
Podcast: [The History of Fresh Produce](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-history-of-fresh-produce-6999611)
Published: 2026-06-04T04:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://hfp.captivate.fm
Audio file: https://op3.dev/e/episodes.captivate.fm/episode/e34da576-4f69-433e-8c76-3b6d73281110.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-history-of-fresh-produce-6999611/episodes/france-the-truffle-underground
Duration seconds: 1970

## Resource

Why did France's black truffle — once produced in the thousands of tonnes — collapse to near-extinction in a century, and what does its revival reveal about the country's relationship with luxury, landscape, and desire? Who are the truffle thieves stalking the oak groves of the Périgord with poisoned meatballs and stolen dogs? And why does a near-identical Chinese impostor, worth one-seventieth of the price, now threaten the French truffle industry from beneath the soil itself? Join John and Patrick as they tell the story of the black diamond of the kitchen — the fraud, the cash markets, the criminal underworld, and the invisible biological invasion growing silently beneath the oaks of southern France... ---------- In Sponsorship with J&K Fresh. The customs broker who is your fruit and veggies’ personal bodyguard. Learn more here ! ----------- Join the History of Fresh Produce Club for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community. Support us! Share this episode with your friends Give a 5-star rating Write a review ----------- Subscribe to our biweekly newsletter here for extra stories related to recent episodes, book recommendations, a sneak peek of upcoming episodes and more. ----------- Instagram, TikTok, Threads: @historyoffreshproduce Email: historyoffreshproduce@gmail.com

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-history-of-fresh-produce-6999611/episodes/france-the-truffle-underground/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-history-of-fresh-produce-6999611/france-the-truffle-underground.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.