Deadly Eating Contests, Fake Croissants & Truffle Truths
A man once ate 57 cow brains in fifteen minutes. Another ate the leaves off 74 feet of stinging nettles. A third downed 49 raw garlic cloves in five, and reported that the garlic got stronger every time it came back up. George Duran opens the show by dragging Karla Walsh through the strangest corners of competitive eating history — the first recorded pie-eating tournament in Toronto in 1878, where contestants knelt in front of raspberry tarts with their hands tied behind their backs and won a nicely bound book for it; the 1909 Manhattan Fat Men's Club contest where a 380-pound former alderman put away 275 oysters, eight pounds of steak and eleven cups of coffee; and the 1899 Welsh rarebit championship in Nutley, New Jersey, where three quarters of a gallon of melted cheese earned a man a beer mug.
Then the mood turns. George walks through the medical case files: the doughnut challenge in Denver that killed a 42-year-old man while bystanders assumed the choking was part of the act, the ghost pepper burger that tore a hole in a man's esophagus and collapsed his lung, the single Carolina Reaper that constricted arteries in a man's brain, and a case published this year of a pizza contest that over-distended a stomach until it perforated. Karla's conclusion: listen to this episode before you sign the waiver.
After the break, it's fakery from the bakery. A TikTok creator films what looks like a Costco delivery arriving at a Times Square French bakery moments after she pays $12 for a pistachio croissant. A Long Island vegan market discovers its "house-made, gluten-free" doughnut is wearing Dunkin's sprinkles. A 60-year-old Biloxi institution pleads guilty to selling more than 29 tons of imported frozen fish as Gulf snapper and grouper. Plus the escolar problem hiding behind the words "white tuna," and a round of Michelin Impossible, in which George reads absurdly elegant descriptions of supermarket junk food and Karla identifies them with unsettling accuracy.
In the second half, Paolo Montanaro — second-generation truffle man and CEO of Tartuflanghe in Alba — explains what a real truffle actually tastes like, why almost all truffle oil is one synthetic molecule doing the work of hundreds, why white truffles can't be farmed and black ones can, how long a truffle really lasts after harvest, the color test that tells you whether the truffle being shaved onto your plate is mature or a prop, and why the world's truffle hunters swapped pigs for dogs.
Key Takeaways
- Competitive eating is older and weirder than the hot dog era. The first recorded pie-eating tournament was a charity fundraiser in Toronto in January 1878, won by Albert Piddington at the Grand Opera House. His prize was a handsomely bound book. Karla's response: she'd rather just buy the book.
- The Fat Men's Club numbers are real. At the Manhattan club's East Third Street clubhouse in 1909, former alderman Frank Dotzler ate 275 oysters, eight-plus pounds of steak, twelve rolls, three pies and eleven cups of coffee. He won $50 — roughly $1,800 today.
- A beer mug for three quarters of a gallon of cheese. The 1899 New Jersey Welsh rarebit championship in Nutley went to Conrad H. Ray, described by the Chicago Daily Tribune as a man with a large mouth and a hungry look.
- The nettle championship started as a farmer's bet. Guinness traces it to 1986, when Dorset farmer Alex Williams produced a 15-foot-6 nettle and promised to eat any longer one. Somebody found one. In 2025 Michael Hobbs stripped and ate the leaves from 74 feet of nettles in an hour.
- Nettles are safe cooked; these people aren't cooking them. Blanching or drying neutralizes the sting. Raw, in quantity, it's mouth and throat irritation and an unhappy stomach.
- 57 cow brains, 17.7 pounds, 15 minutes. Takeru Kobayashi's record — by George's math, about 12,100 calories and 249,000 mg of cholesterol. George's own cow-brain trauma is a childhood memory of coming home from a lesson on the nervous system and lifting a pot lid to find one bubbling away.
- 49 raw garlic cloves in five minutes. Oliver Farmer won the first World Garlic Eating Competition in Dorset in 2013. Four to nine cloves is enough to cause serious gastrointestinal distress; doctors have documented genuine garlic burns.
- The deaths and injuries are not hypothetical. Travis Malouff, 42, choked to death in 2017 attempting a half-pound doughnut in 80 seconds — witnesses didn't intervene fast enough because distress and effort look identical in an eating challenge.
- A ghost pepper burger tore a 2.5 cm hole in a man's esophagus. Emergency surgery, a collapsed lung, 23 days in hospital, home with a feeding tube.
- One pepper, one brain event. A 34-year-old man who ate a single Carolina Reaper developed thunderclap headaches; imaging showed several cerebral arteries had temporarily constricted. They returned to normal.
- Stomachs can and do rupture. A case published this year: a 44-year-old man's stomach perforated immediately after a pizza-eating competition, requiring emergency surgery and intensive care. He survived.
- The $12 croissant. A TikTok creator filmed a delivery of what appeared to be Costco croissants arriving at a French bakery near Times Square whose own website advertises house-made pastries. The bakery denies it, saying the pastries come from its own Coney Island production facility and that it reuses incoming boxes. The allegation is unproven.
- The "D" gave it away. In 2024 a Long Island vegan market flagged a supposedly vegan, gluten-free doughnut decorated with D-shaped sprinkles. An at-home test found substantial gluten; the state opened an investigation and the supplying bakery later recalled its baked goods over possible undeclared wheat, soy and milk.
- 29 tons of it. A famous Biloxi seafood restaurant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to misbrand seafood and wire fraud, admitting it sold roughly 58,750 pounds of cheap frozen imports as premium local Gulf species between 2013 and 2019.
- One in five fish is not what the label says. Oceana DNA-tested 449 samples across 24 states: sea bass was mislabeled 55% of the time, snapper 42%. One in three establishments sold at least one mislabeled item.
- "White tuna" is usually escolar. A deep-water fish whose wax esters humans don't digest — which produces exactly the consequences you'd expect. George's broader point: American palates aren't trained to catch the swap, so nobody complains.
- Michelin Impossible works. Karla nailed the Twinkie, the M&M and "a tempered milk chocolate medallion filled with a lightly salted roasted legume praline." She has an unfair advantage: as a food editor she was barred from using brand names, so she wrote in generic descriptions for a living.
- A truffle doesn't taste like one thing. Paolo describes a mix of garlic, mushroom, mushroom honey, linden flower and violet.
- Most truffle oil is marketing. Synthetic versions carry one dominant molecule instead of the many that make up a real truffle's aroma — and they're often so overpowering they're hard to digest. The price tag is buying the word "truffle."
- White truffles can't be farmed. Tuber magnatum — the Alba truffle — is the only variety that can't be cultivated. That's the entire reason it costs more than everything else.
- Black truffles, however, can be grown. Soil analysis, sterilization to remove competing spores, inoculated trees, truffle water worked into the ground — and after roughly a year you'll find very small truffles on the roots. Tartuflanghe washes around a thousand pounds of summer truffle a week and returns the spore-rich wash water to the forest.
- The clock is brutal. White truffle keeps about 15 days from harvest, summer truffle about 21. By the time it clears customs and reaches a US restaurant, seven to ten days may be all that's left.
- Truffles smell in order to be eaten. The aroma exists to attract insects that will spread the spores. A truffle that doesn't smell is either immature or twenty days old — and if it's the latter, it'll feel soft.
- Color is the tell. Summer truffle should be nut-coloured. A white truffle that's completely white isn't ready; it should run yellow to brown. A black winter truffle should be fully black. Paolo's advice: ask to see it and smell it before it's shaved.
- Bigger costs more for no good reason. A single 100-gram truffle might run $500; five 20-gram truffles of identical quality might run $350.
- Why pigs lost the job. Truffles carry a compound resembling a boar pheromone, so a sow digs because she thinks there's a pig down there — which means wrestling her away from the find. Dogs hunt because finding a truffle earns a biscuit. They're playing.
People & Companies Mentioned
- George Duran — Host, Always Hangry; chef and TV personality
- Karla Walsh — Food and wellness writer, Level One Sommelier, recurring Always Hangry guest co-host; former food editor; https://karlawalsh.com/
- Paolo Montanaro — CEO of Tartuflanghe, second-generation truffle producer from Alba, Piedmont; https://tartuflanghe.com
- Tartuflanghe — Alba-based truffle company founded in 1975 by Beppe and Domenica Montanaro; ~150 products including Truffle Perlage, truffle chips, truffle salt and truffle powder
- Takeru Kobayashi — Competitive eater; holds the 57-cow-brain record (17.7 lbs / 15 minutes)
- Albert Piddington — Winner of the first recorded pie-eating tournament, Toronto, January 1878
- Frank Dotzler — Former alderman; winner of the 1909 Manhattan Fat Men's Club eating contest
- Conrad H. Ray — Winner of the 1899 Welsh rarebit eating championship, Nutley, New Jersey
- Alex Williams / Michael Hobbs — Originator (1986) and 2025 champion of the World Stinging Nettle Eating Championship, Dorset, England
- Oliver Farmer — Winner of the first World Garlic Eating Competition, Dorset, 2013
- Travis Malouff — Died in 2017 attempting Voodoo Doughnut's Tex-Ass Challenge in Denver
- Voodoo Doughnut — Portland-based chain; suspended its eating challenges after Malouff's death
- @tallbrowngirlll (Sreenitya) — NYC TikTok creator who filmed and posted the croissant video
- Costco / Kirkland Signature — Warehouse retailer whose packaging appears in the video
- Cindysnacks — Huntington, Long Island vegan market that raised the doughnut alarm
- The Savory Fig — Long Island bakery accused of reselling Dunkin' doughnuts; later recalled baked goods over undeclared allergens
- Dunkin' — Brand whose D-shaped sprinkles identified the doughnut
- Mary Mahoney's Old French House — Biloxi, Mississippi restaurant that pleaded guilty to conspiracy to misbrand seafood and wire fraud
- Oceana — Ocean conservation nonprofit behind the seafood-fraud DNA investigations
- New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets — Investigated the Savory Fig complaints
- Journal of Emergency Medicine / BMJ Case Reports — Sources for the ghost pepper and Carolina Reaper cases
- Twinkie, Oreo, Ritz, M&M's, Reese's — Michelin Impossible answers
Transcript
Another really strange competitive eating contest was a cow brain eating contest.
Karla Walsh:Oh, no.
George Duran:Welcome to the Always Hangry Podcast, where we break down the way we eat. The good, the bad, and the completely ridiculous. I'm your host, George Duran.
On today's show, we're diving headfirst into the insane world of eating contests. Then we'll expose some of the fakest foods around, from misleading menus to culinary imposters hiding in plain sight.
And later, I sit down with a renowned truffle expert to talk about one of the most luxurious ingredients on earth, including how to know when the truffle on your plate is actually the real deal. Joining me now is the only person on Earth who says speed eating beats speed dating any day, the endlessly delightful Karla Walsh.
Karla Walsh:Is this why I'm still single, George?
George Duran:Because you're speed eating instead of speed dating?
Karla Walsh:Yeah, I gave up dating a while ago, but speed eating is still daunting to me. Yeah, I don't know, those competitions with the hot dogs and stuff, it's kind. It's a lot.
George Duran:Have you ever been to one of those competitions?
Karla Walsh:I did go one year when I lived in New York, I went to the hot dog eating competition, and it was quite the spectacle.
George Duran:Yeah, it's. I mean, the crowd gets there. I mean, you're just watching people dip the bread into water and then just shoving it in their mouths. It's disgusting.
Karla Walsh:Yeah, it's a lot. Is there any food that you would eat en masse and, like, sign up for a competition to speed eat quantity?
George Duran:No, I just cannot do that. I mean, I'm a big guy. I could probably fill in a lot, but I think that's disgusting. But speeding. Yeah.
I mean, I'm naturally a speed eater, unfortunately, and I think the one I would do really well is wings.
Karla Walsh:Ooh, that's complicated because you have to work around the bone.
George Duran:No, I don't. I have a method of kind of just scraping it with my teeth. The meat out with my teeth, and the two bones remain intact.
And I bet you I could do really well with that.
Karla Walsh:That's incredible strategy. Wow.
George Duran:Yeah.
ests took place in Toronto in: Karla Walsh:Oh, my gosh. Pie eating contest feels very state fair, right?
George Duran:The winner was Albert Piddington. Of course, he was rewarded with a Handsomely bound book.
So you're essentially inhaling these pies in public face first, and you get a book as a prize.
Karla Walsh:I'd rather just buy the book.
George Duran: And this is: Karla Walsh:Oh, my goodness. And look at how it's evolved. It's now a sport.
George Duran: In: Karla Walsh:Oh, the mashup there is what is daunting. Oh, my goodness.
George Duran:He won 50 bucks, which is about $1,800 today. And God, I hope there was good plumbing back then, because with that coffee, man.
Karla Walsh:Ah, I know. The acid, too. It's just like, right at the end. That is not the ideal shooter. This is fascinating. Would you. Speedy oysters.
Mine is the coffee and all of.
George Duran:The other in a heartbeat. As long as I know they're fresh. I could just. Those things will just go down. I wouldn't even chew that.
Karla Walsh:Would you? Love them.
George Duran:Yeah. And he ate only 275 oysters. Okay. That's a lot.
Karla Walsh:Only so many who had to shuck all those.
George Duran:You know, there's, like, omakaze places now in New York City where it's all. You can eat omakaze now. And they give you the 12 or 14 Nigiri Sushis. And then after that, you can order as many as you like.
And for each one that you don't eat, they charge you $6 extra.
Karla Walsh:It's a great way to reduce food waste. It's honestly very smart.
George Duran: In: Karla Walsh:Isn't that like one of those, like, messy sandwiches with the gravy on it?
George Duran:It's like a thick sauce of melted cheese, beer, mustard. And they. Sometimes they put it under toast.
Karla Walsh:Yeah.
George Duran:The winner, Conrad H. Ray, was described by the Chicago Daily Tribune as having a large mouth and a hungry look. He put away three quarters of a gallon of Raribit. That's about 12 cups. And was rewarded with a championship trophy. A beer mug.
Karla Walsh:Oh, my word. A beer mug.
George Duran:That's it.
Karla Walsh:That is a lot of rarebit to eat for a beer mug.
George Duran:There have been contests that have been really weird. You ready?
Karla Walsh:Okay. I don't know I don't know if I'm ready for this, but.
George Duran: England traces its origin to:Farmer Alex Williams bragged that he had a 15 foot 6 inch nettle and said he'd eat it if anyone produced a longer one. Competitors now take the branches of the nettles and have an hour to strip and eat the leaves.
In: Karla Walsh:Wow. Holy smokes. That's a unique record. Okay, so my foraging sister would be very disappointed in me.
But don't the singing nettle sting when you're stemming the stalks?
George Duran:Despite its prickly reputation, nettle is safe to eat and handle once it's cooked, blanched or dried, which neutralizes the sting. But they're not cooked. They're eating it raw. They're cooking it.
Karla Walsh:It's raw, right?
George Duran:Yeah. Eating large amounts can cause significant mouth and throat irritation and possibly upset stomach,.
Karla Walsh:Which is riskier that amount of stinging nettle or lettuce lately.
George Duran:I'm gonna go for the lettuce. I'm taking my chance. I'm rolling the dice.
I mean, this guy ate 74ft of nettles, so I don't know how that another really strange competitive eating contest was a cow brain eating contest.
Karla Walsh:Oh, no.
George Duran: Oh, yeah. It took place in:Takeru Kobayashi. Kobayashi was known for the hot dog eating contest. Beforehand. He absolutely demolished the field, consuming 57 cow brains.
Karla Walsh:Oh my word.
George Duran:In 15 minutes, the brains. By the way, 57 cow brains weigh a total of 17.7 pounds.
Karla Walsh:Oh my word.
George Duran:I did some research and that much cow brain has 12,100 calories and 249,000 milligrams of cholesterol.
Karla Walsh:Oh my goodness. I had no idea it was so high in cholesterol. So interesting.
George Duran:My parents used to eat cow brain.
Karla Walsh:Oh, is it like a. It's a delicacy in some cultures, yes.
George Duran:I remember as a kid, very young kid, going to science class and learning about the nervous system and literally that day coming home and there was a pot of boiling something there. It was kind of like just rattling and I remember opening the pot to see what was cooking and it was a full brain just bubbling away.
Karla Walsh:The timing. Were you like, are you conspiring with my biology teacher? What's happening?
George Duran:I Was traumatized.
Karla Walsh:So have you ever tried it, like, without knowing? Maybe it sounds like you wouldn't have knowingly, but I didn't know if they snuck it in somehow.
George Duran: In: Karla Walsh:Wow.
George Duran:One competitor said the garlic actually seemed to get stronger every time it came back up, which is horrifying to think about that. Of course.
Karla Walsh:Can you imagine, like, the lineup of, you know, like, after a football game where, like, the coach and the players, like, take questions from the media? Man, that would be brutal if it was the same as a food competition.
George Duran:I mean, you must smell like it for days on end coming out of your pores.
Karla Walsh:I mean, I love a garlic dish and they have that, like 40 cloves of garlic chicken, but, like, that is like, roasted and simmered down and not for one person.
George Duran:Yeah. Apparently four to nine cloves of garlic can cause intense gastrointestinal distress and vomiting and heartburn and irritation.
Raw garlic is so chemically aggressive that doctors have documented actual garlic burns in.
Karla Walsh:Your intestines or like esophagus or something.
George Duran:Ah. So I did a little deep dive, and it turns out there have been numerous instances where eating contests have gone wrong. You want to hear about these?
Karla Walsh:I. I think so.
George Duran:You have to. You don't have a choice.
Karla Walsh:Okay. I'm. I'm. I'm buckled in.
George Duran: In:The donut weighed about half a pound, was roughly 5 to 7 inches across, and was described as being equip. The equivalent to about six regular donuts, which. That's not that much if you think about it.
Karla Walsh:No, but the time limit would be the tough part. Like, that's less than half. One and a half minutes.
George Duran:During the attempt, however, he began choking, collapsed, and later died from an obstructed airway.
Karla Walsh:Oh, no. Oh, my gosh. So do they sign waivers before all of these competitions, do you think?
George Duran:Without a doubt. They have to. They have to.
Witnesses initially had trouble realizing he was in distress because struggling and gagging can look like part of an eating challenge.
Karla Walsh:Oh. Oh, that breaks my heart.
George Duran: nal of emergency medicine, in:The pepper was so intense that he began violently vomiting and retching and the force actually tore a 2 1/2 centimeter hole in his esophagus and contributed to a collapsed lung.
Karla Walsh:Oh my word.
George Duran:He needed emergency surgery, spent 23 days in the hospital and went home with a feeding tube.
Karla Walsh:Oh my word. Ugh. Not worth it. Not worth it.
George Duran: In:Soon afterwards, he developed excruciating thunderclap headaches and doctors discovered that several arteries in his brain had temporarily constricted. Eventually, his symptoms resolved and follow up imaging showed the affected brain arteries had returned to normal.
Karla Walsh:It's just like this. Feels like it's one of the more dangerous sports available besides like football.
George Duran:And finally, a medical case published this year. A 44 year old man developed sudden severe abdominal pain immediately after a pizza eating competition.
Doctors discovered that his stomach had become so over distended that it perforated, forcing him into emergency surgery intensive care. He survived, but pizza night probably lost a little of its charm.
Karla Walsh:A lot of its charm. Oh my gosh. So your stomach can literally explode.
George Duran:We're like dogs. You know how like dogs just won't stop eating and they just eat until they throw up.
Karla Walsh:Man. Anybody who thinks about wanting to do food competition should have to listen to this episode before signing the waiver and participating.
George Duran:It's a bit queasy and I think we should take a break if possible.
Karla Walsh:Yeah, I think that sounds great. I'm ready for some recovery.
George Duran:When we come back, we're exposing a fakery at a bakery and then I'm sitting down with truffle expert Paola Montanaro to separate the real deal from the fake stuff. We'll be right back. Welcome back. Carla. Did you hear about this French bakery in New York City?
It's called Le Parisienne that was caught bringing croissants from what look like Costco. Have you seen that?
Karla Walsh:I've seen this going around and it is so wild.
George Duran:Well, it's interesting. It was a TikTok creator. Her name is Tall Brown Girl.
She was eating at Le Parisienne bakery, a French cafe near Times Square, when she said she paid $12 for a pistachio croissant. Which is insane, but you are in Times Square.
Karla Walsh:Exactly.
George Duran:While she was there, she filmed a delivery person Bringing boxes into the bakery. One appeared to contain croissants, and the boxes appeared to be from Costco Kirkland packaging. Her conclusion?
The fancy French bakery was buying Costco croissants and reselling them for $12.
The story exploded online, particularly because Le Parisienne describes its pastries on its own website as house made and says its artisans create them using high quality ingredients. It's house made. Whose house? I don't know.
Karla Walsh:Yeah. Did the brand reply when this was posted? Did they put out an official statement with their take?
George Duran:Yeah. Three days later, after the original story posted, Le Parisienne pushed back.
A bakery employee told reporters that the croissants are not from Costco.
According to the employee, Le Parisienne makes its pastries at a separate production facility in Coney island and transports them to the Times Square's cafe every morning, claiming that they just reused the boxes. But I'm looking at this photo. That plastic container that those croissants come from, Costco. It's right there. I mean, it's on the video.
It's on the still image. Right.
Karla Walsh:This is so interesting. I mean, there are some high quality products that brands are happy to write. You know, like Heinz ketchup.
They're not going to disguise that, like many brands use branded products. But if you saw a Costco croissant on the menu, would you be. Would you buy it?
George Duran:No. There have been many other instances where establishments have been caught cheating.
In: Karla Walsh:Oh. Oh, my God. Got it. Okay. These were Dunkin Donuts.
George Duran:The market said an at home test detected substantial gluten, despite the products being represented as vegan and gluten free. The New York State Department of Agriculture and markets confirmed that it was investigating complaints about the business.
And a month later, the Savory Fig voluntarily recalled its donuts and several other baked goods because they could contain undeclared wheat, gluten, milk, and soy. And they, of course, denied that they ever they were passing off a Dunkin donut as their own.
Karla Walsh:Oh, my word. Okay, this harkens back to. Did you watch Seinfeld? Do you remember the non fat yogurt episode?
George Duran:Yes, I do. I do. And they did a test and it was full of fat.
Karla Walsh:Yes.
George Duran: In: Between: Karla Walsh:Okay, I just wrote a story about this actually. Like, it's becoming like a huge thing about like globally sourced seafood versus domestic.
And Louisiana just like increased their penalties for if you are found fraudulent.
George Duran:Well, I mean, also, I think people just don't know what they're eating. And I couldn't tell you the difference in a lot of fishes that they just put in front of me.
If you cover it with enough butter or deep fried, I'll just say, yeah, of course that's cod and not pollock, you know?
Karla Walsh:Yes, exactly.
George Duran: In: Karla Walsh:That feels like not so bad amount to me. Which is sad because that's still so many. Like, why can't we just label them correctly?
George Duran:Here's a list of the most commonly mislabeled seafood products. Red snapper has been substituted with rockfish. Cod with Alaskan pollock. Sea bass for halibut and paddlefish roe for sturgeon. Caviar.
Can you imagine paying for caviar and it's just paddlefish roe.
Karla Walsh:Oh my gosh. I know. That price difference is wild.
George Duran:I guarantee you people don't even know what they're eating. That's the problem, is that we're just not. Our palates aren't educated enough in this country. We need to learn what real fish is and then demand it.
When we go into a restaurant and say, this does not taste like skate or whatever they're serving.
Karla Walsh:So is it often a matter of the restaurants trying to make more money or is it like the reputation of the food and they want to have the name of the more popular product?
George Duran:No, it's because of money. It's cheaper, it's easier to obtain. They buy it from Asia, they import it frozen, and then they call it cod, but it's pollock.
And then there's whitefish. Whenever you see anything labeled as white tuna, especially at a sushi restaurant, there's an 84% chance that fish is escolar.
Escolar is a deep water predatory fish known for its rich, buttery taste that contains wax esters. Humans don't digest particularly well. Meaning eating enough can cause some rather unpleasant gastrointestinal consequences.
Karla Walsh:That's so scary.
George Duran:All right, we're going to play a game. Are you ready for a game?
Karla Walsh:Oh, yes, I'm ready. I'm going to do. I promise I'll do better than Dubai or AI and like, if you haven't listened to that episode, go back because it is a disaster.
George Duran:The name of this game is Michelin Impossible.
Karla Walsh:Ooh.
George Duran:I'm gonna give you a Michelin star description of a popular snack food item, and you have to guess what it is.
Karla Walsh:Okay, I'm ready.
George Duran:Golden sponge gateau filled with vanilla whipped cream center individually portioned for effortless indulgence.
Karla Walsh:That is so a Twinkie.
George Duran:It sure is. Yes. Twin dark cocoa biscuits sandwiching a sweet vanilla creme with a crispy exterior and silky center.
Karla Walsh:Ooh. Twin I. This is a treat that I think I steered clear of as a child because other things were more tempting to me.
But I'm gonna say, what is a ding Dong?
George Duran:It is not.
Karla Walsh:No, darn it.
George Duran:It's an Oreo.
Karla Walsh:Oh. Well, why are there two? Oh, Twins Sandwich cookie. Got it. Okay. Yep, that's an Oreo.
George Duran:Delicate buttery wheat crisps, lightly salted and baked to a flaky golden finish.
Karla Walsh:Is this a wheat thin?
George Duran:No. Buttery Ritz cracker? Yes, that's it. All right. Bite sized milk chocolate drag a encased in a polished multicolored sugar shell.
Karla Walsh:Ah, that has to be an M.
George Duran:And M. It sure is.
Karla Walsh:All right.
George Duran:And finally, a tempered milk chocolate medallion filled with a lightly salted roasted legume praline.
Karla Walsh:That is a Reese's peanut butter cup. George,.
George Duran:You're remarkably good at this.
ontanaro, CEO of Tartuflanghe:Yes.
Karla Walsh:Okay, so the reason why is that in the media world, when you're writing recipes. So my. I had a job as a food editor and there were certain branded names that we were not allowed to use.
So it was like candy coated chocolate pieces or fish shaped cheddar crackers.
George Duran:You have to use the generic terminology for it. You could start using tempered milk chocolate medallion filled with lightly salted roasted legume praline from now on.
Karla Walsh:That was a great description.
George Duran:All right, well, thanks so much, Karla, for being on the show. You'll be on the next show, right?
Karla Walsh:It has been such a treat. I can't wait to come back.
George Duran:The always delightful Karla Walsh. Up next. We're going underground. Literally. We're talking all about truffles and finding out what makes these funky little fungi so darn special.
Welcome back to Always Hangry. Today we're diving into one of the most mysterious, expensive and downright intoxicating ingredients on earth. Truffles.
Paolo Montanaro is the CEO of Tartuflanghe and a second generation truffle expert from the heart of Alba, Italy. Paolo, thanks so much for being on the show.
ontanaro, CEO of Tartuflanghe:Thank you, George.
George Duran:How would you describe someone who's never tasted a real truffle, what a truffle tastes like?
ontanaro, CEO of Tartuflanghe:To give an idea of the taste of the truffle to someone that never tried, I can give you some idea about the flavoring compound. So the truffle can be a mix about garlic, mushroom, mushroom honey, but also linden flower, violet.
George Duran:Oh my. I wouldn't even think of a truffle tasting like that. But that's really. You're going deep into like secondary and tertiary flavors. Right.
ontanaro, CEO of Tartuflanghe:I let you curious to try the truffles because they're really unique.
George Duran:They are. And I know there's a difference between truffle oil and regular real truffle. And honestly, I know there's such a thing as a synthetic truffle.
Is that right?
ontanaro, CEO of Tartuflanghe:Yes. Unfortunately, the real truffle oil are just a few. So we can divide into big family.
One are truffle oil with the truffle and the truffle oil only flavored.
George Duran:So is there something to be said about synthetic truffle oil or the truffle oil that is cheaper? Why is it still expensive if it's like a fake flavor? Is it hard to make? Is it just marketing?
ontanaro, CEO of Tartuflanghe:Marketing. But if you buy synthetic, you just buy one flavoring that is the most dominant in the truffle.
But you don't have the complexity that has a natural flavors that is compounded by many molecules like the fresh truffle.
George Duran:But again, my question is why is truffle oil still expensive if it's something that is synthetically produced?
ontanaro, CEO of Tartuflanghe:There can be two reasons, I think. One is marketing because they sell the name truffle and give a value to the products.
The other reason is that most of the synthetic truffle oil are very, very strong. So because they are overpowering of truffle molecule, so this one become also difficult to digest.
George Duran:Let's talk about a black truffle and white truffle. What are the differences between the two?
ontanaro, CEO of Tartuflanghe:So the white truffle tuber, manatum pico.
It's important to find the word magnatum is the real what is called Alba truffle, as this is the only variety that is not possible to cultivate, it's only wild. That's why white truffle, it's more expensive than all other varieties.
George Duran:Everything is marketing here in the United States. Are we eating truffles wrong in the United States?
ontanaro, CEO of Tartuflanghe:No. Okay, so you eat very good truffle in US Always. The only recommendation is to ask maybe if the truffle are white or not.
The original white, in the case of the white one, Italian are absolutely the best in terms of flavors. Also, because we have know how from the picking to the sails of the truffle and the selection.
George Duran:So white truffles are only harvested wild. And the black truffles, however, how do we cultivate that? How do. How do we make more of it?
ontanaro, CEO of Tartuflanghe:Just make an analysis of your soil.
If it's a soil that match with the needs of the truffle, after you have the analysis, they can also tell you which is the variety that can combine with your soil. The soil has to be sterilized so there are no other spores or competition competitors.
Then you start to drain till the Hazen has open it, start to grow the tree, and. And then you have to add truffle water or pieces of truffle in the soil.
And after one years, more or less, you go to analyze and you will find on your roots these very, very small truffles.
George Duran:That's crazy. So you can buy a truffle tree, essentially, and if you have the right, you know, circumstances, you can grow truffles in your backyard.
ontanaro, CEO of Tartuflanghe:Imagine that in Tartu flange, we wash some in summer season, something like thousand pound of summer truffle per week. When we wash the truffle, all the waters it's stocked, and then we go in the forest and we. We release the water. Because this water is full of spores.
George Duran:Right. What is the shelf life of a truffle once it's harvested?
ontanaro, CEO of Tartuflanghe:It's around white truffle 15 days, and summer truffle about 21 days.
George Duran:Wait a minute, hold on. It just. It goes bad after 21 days?
ontanaro, CEO of Tartuflanghe:Yeah. So imagine that we pick up truffle in the night. The day after 12, we ship by DHL, UPS Worldwide.
The truffle arrived with one importer and they have to remove from custom. So everything more or less take 48 hours. From there, they ship to restaurant or stores.
So when you receive truffle, if you are lucky, they have three days. If you are normally four or five days from the hunting, so you still have seven, 10 days in us to finish the products.
George Duran:What does a truffle taste like the moment you harvest it? It must be different than what, 15, 20 days later, right?
ontanaro, CEO of Tartuflanghe:Yes. Because every day they release flavors. So taste. When they are mature, they start to smell just to call insect.
So the insect come bite the truffle and around the soil, the insect spread the spores. So the truffle smell only to call insect. Because you want that someone spread the spore in the soil.
If the truffle arrest at the restaurant is not smelling, is because was not mature or it's 20 days old. In this case, if you touch with your hands, you will find it soft.
George Duran:I have been to restaurants where they've served me shaved truffle. I've paid a premium for it. And I didn't taste or smell anything. They're scamming me, right. Like they're kind of cheating a little bit.
ontanaro, CEO of Tartuflanghe:So you should know the, the. The season. Summer truffle, if it's white, is not mature. Summer truffle has to be has a nut color.
White truffle, if it's completely white, is not mature. It must be little bit yellow color till brown. So this, the black winter truffle has to be completely black.
If they do not respect the color, they are still not mature.
George Duran:Okay, that is a great tip. I like that. And I will definitely keep that in mind. Ask them the origin. Maybe smell the truffle before they shave it on to see if it's still good.
ontanaro, CEO of Tartuflanghe:If it's possible, yes. But as to the waitress to show you the truffle, maybe smell the truffle and see the color.
George Duran:Do you think the average person can tell the difference between a 50 truffle and a 500 truffle?
ontanaro, CEO of Tartuflanghe:This is a good question. So the truffle first. The price of the truffle depends on the size. This is very strange. So if you buy a truffle of 100 grams, it cost you 500.
If you buy a truffle 5 truffle of 20 grams each, maybe you can pay 350$. And the quality is exactly the same.
George Duran:Yeah. Let's talk about harvesting truffles. I know pigs used to be used, but now dogs are used. Why do we switch from pigs to dogs?
ontanaro, CEO of Tartuflanghe:So the the pigs hunt the truffle because into the truffle there is one pheromone that is the same pheromone that is produced by the pig's female. So when he smell under soil and stop during the walking with the hunters, he's thinking there is a Pig, female, under the soil.
So that's why he stopped. Okay. So the hunters has to take the. The pigs and bring him away. And in the back, there is another hunters that make a hole and take the truffles.
Okay. When we started with the dogs, they go in the forest because they know that if they find a truffle, the hunters give them a biscuit. Okay.
So that's why they go hunting. They go for playing, nothing else.
George Duran:Amazing. I want to adopt a truffle dog, just to have one and walk around the forest. I don't know if it's possible.
Tell me more about Tarto Flange, your company. I know you guys have a lot of innovative products from Perlage, which is essentially little pearls of a truffle.
You have truffle potato chips, truffle in a tube, essentially, but actual truffle powder and real truffle salt.
ontanaro, CEO of Tartuflanghe:So the Tartu Flange now is producing around 150 products. We have a company, us. You can find us easily. Ilovetraffle.com because our names is not easy to write.
Thanks to our territory, we have a very, very perfect climate condition to grow and have what I think is really the best offer in the world.
George Duran:Paolo Montanaro, CEO of Tartuflange. You can find all of their products at tartoflange us or just go to ilovetruffle.com like Paolo said and check them out. Thanks so much, Paolo.
ontanaro, CEO of Tartuflanghe:Thank you, George. And thank you to everyone and for.
George Duran:All the folks tuning in. If you liked what you heard, follow the Always Hangry podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.
And head over to alwayshangrypodcast.com for new episodes, bonus content, and everything else we've got cooking. I'm George Duran. Until next time, stay hungry.
