I spent the day running errands in the city - first to the Apple store to replace a shattered screen and next to the radiologist's office to get some X-rays done. It's never fun to sit in the waiting area of a doctor's office without a phone to pretend that you're too busy to pay attention to anyone else. The magazine selection counted last year's Sports Illustrated Olympic games issue as news. The next best thing was a Bay Area business magazine. The local magazine has what you'd expect from it ads from local wineries, lasik surgery, and roof repairs, stories about local festivals and happenings. One story did stand out.

With fine dining in the Bay Area taking hold, there has been more of a demand for fresh truffles. Truffles themselves lose flavor after a few days so shipping them from Europe was costly and not a good option. Turns out Napa Valley has a pretty good way of imitating French climate. As a result, farmers have cultivated truffles here for the past few decades. Commercial cultivation has only recently started. Like wine, it takes years before you get your batch to sell. Truffles take 7 years growing underground on the roots of oak and hazelnut trees.

What fascinates me the most about truffles is the opaque nature of the industry and how it actually operates. There are truffle farmers, dealers, and chefs but most of us are really only aware of the seasoning on the dish. Often times, we fail to understand where something comes from and what it takes to get to where it is now.