FEAST OR FAMINE

 

I’ve been gifted unusual things in my life and a gift of an Australian truffle while living in France is no exception. By weight, the truffle is one of the most expensive foods to purchase, so I was thrilled to receive this birthday gift – one truffle in an air-locked bag from a specialty truffle shop in the south of France, with a bottle of extra virgin olive oil flavoured with Black Truffle.   A truffle is an edible spore – an underground fungi in the Tuberaceae family – found in woodlands. It looks like a small, round, hard lump of dark soil. But to find one, a special detector is needed – the nose of a pig or a dog.    The one I received was a Winter Black Truffle ( Tuber Melanosporum ), transported from Australia, since it is winter Down Under. The price is volatile, but the average price per kilogram in 2023 in Europe was 1,383 euros. The average weight for one truffle is about 10-15 grams, which is enough for two people.    In France, the Winter Black Tru...

 

 

Cursed Bread  by Sophie Mackintosh (2023) is set in a small village in France in 1951 with a population of about 4,000.    The novel is based upon a true event in the town in southern France called Point-Saint-Esprit – which means the Holy Spirit Bridge. On 15 August 1951, more than 250 people were affected by an outbreak of poisoning with psychotic symptoms. Subsequently, four people died and about 50 were institutionalized in an asylum. Many theories arose about the source of the poisoning, but none were proven.   This novel is loosely a fictional account of the poisoning event.    The narrator Elodie, of an unknown age, is the wife of a baker of an unknown name. He bakes the bread, and she sells it.    For conversation, she meets the women of the town at the local laundry to wash their clothes. There, she befriends Violet.   Violet, of an unknown age, is the wife of a wealthy ambassador of an unknown name. He conducts official business and...