Episode 07: The Pecan Truffle

Fungi Town

Welcome back, citizen!

In this episode of Fungi Town, we learn about a culinary delicacy from the American south that just might become a boon for Georgia farmers. Cousin to the well-known and much-sought-after European black truffle, the pecan truffle can be found much closer to home, but still fetches a nice price in the local market. Find out what a pecan truffle is, how it was discovered, and where to find it when I talk with Dr. Tim Brenneman from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of Georgia and Dr. Matthew Smith and Ph.D. student Arthur Grupe from the University of Florida's Plant Pathology Department.

**correction: I mistakenly described the pecan truffle fungus as being endomycorrhizal, when in fact it is ectomycorrhizal.

Here's a cute infographic on the differences between the chocolate truffle and the mushroom variety (you'll need to scroll down a little).

There's a great article about Georgia Pecan Truffles in Garden & Gun Magazine.

To watch a video of my guests with a truffle dog, go here.

Want to teach your dog to hunt truffles? Try Truffle Dog Co. or Southern Tradition Kennels.

To order pecan truffles, pecan truffle oil, and schedule a truffle hunt, try Pecan Ridge Plantation.

To get your science on and view pictures of truffle look-alikes to watch out for, try this.

Thirsty? Here's a European black truffle infused vodka called Black Moth (for funzies).

During the break, I make an exciting announcement about the Podcast Movement convention in July. If you'd like to support the podcast, please consider becoming a patron. Just click the green "become a Patron" button on your screen (upper right corner) or go here. For $1 a month, you get access to exclusive mini episodes of the show, for a $5 montly contribution, you get a snazzy Fungi Town logo vinyl sticker PLUS access to the mini episodes, and now there's a $10 option that gives you a choice of any of three beautiful mushroom prints by Athens artist Maggie Baxter. If you've already become a patron and want to bump up a level for the new rewards, it's easy!

Fungi Town is written, directed and produced by Jen Parrilli and hosted on Podbean. The new theme music is by the awesome Athens, GA band Shehehe. Defunked theme music is Fminor_Funk_BassGroove_100bpm by GRD-music used via Creative Commons license through Freesound. Photo is by guest Dr. Matthew Smith and has been cropped and resized.

You can find Fungi Town on Facebook. Twitter, and Instagram: @fungitownpod or email at fungitownpod[at]gmail[dot]com.