Christmas is rushing up, as are various deadlines (including one for the next book), but this item from the Washington Post is worth a read. It describes the rounds of a French truffle inspector - an official charged with ensuring that what's being sold as Tuber melanosporum is the real thing, and not Chinese (or anything else). It also includes some interesting information on recent French harvests - badly hit by heat and drought.

"Shrinking supply is also driving up prices. Over the past four seasons, truffle production in Provence has plummeted 70 percent, from 33,000 pounds harvested in the winter of 2002 to 9,680 pounds last year, according to ministry records. Truffle production nationwide last year was about 74,000 pounds, half the yields of a decade ago. Neighboring Italy and Spain also report diminished truffle yields because of dry weather. The harvests are decreasing dramatically," said Michel Courvoisier, who heads the French Federation of Truffle Producers. It's mostly due to climate changes. We've had recurring droughts in the past five years, which had a terrible effect on truffles."

Meanwhile, retailers seem keen to get hold of whatever truffle is available:

"Valayer bent over a mound of dirt-covered truffles that ranged in size from walnuts to softballs. He separated the specimens gnawed by rats, softened by fly larvae, munched by caterpillars or waterlogged by wet ground. He cut away the damaged sections and tossed the salvaged chips into a bin for canning. A half-ounce container of such leftovers was selling for $30 last week at Fauchon, the fancy Paris-based food emporium."

Spare me the rats. I have quite enough mice as it is.