Posts Tagged ‘truffle in paradise’

My Pizza Story in Best Food Writing of 2012

Last Friday, while sitting in a crowded outdoor Parisian cafe’ before the Mondial de la Pizza, I recieved word that my story, “Truffle in Paradise,” was selected to appear in Holly Hughes’ “Best Food Writing 2012.”

“Truffle,” is a story about me and my three friends trying to find those wonderfully pungent dirt-mushrooms in Italy. Not the noble whites or the rough blacks, just the early spring truffle called “Bianchetti.” This truffle is grey, earthy and what some call “ugly” and “trash,” quite possibly a metaphor for the standing of the lonely pizza guy in the culinary universe, huh?

I had planned to shave this much-sought-after wonder on my pizza for the World Pizza Championships of 2008 but was not prepared for what happened next…well, lets just say, you gotta read this one!

                              

The story first appeared in the spring edition of Gastronomica, the journal of food and culture published by Darra Goldstein and the University of California Press.

As you can tell, I am very glad that Darra and Holly took a chance to highlight a story about competitive pizza making in very tough environment that seperates the strong from the weak and strenghtens bonds between friends. Thanks also to my good friends Bruno di Fabio, Tony Gemignani and Justin Wadstein who appear in the book and my fabulous writing coach, Dianne Jacob. But most of all, the love of my life, Debra for putting up with all my insane pizza crapola.

 

Gastronomica Spring Issue

My story about finding truffles in Italy has now been published in Gastronomica’s spring 2012 Issue.

Dr. Lou Jacobs, Portland, Maine chiropractor featured in Gastronomica magazine

It’s a slice of life in those uber-intense days whilst competing at the World Pizza Competitions in Salsomaggiore, Italy.

In the spring edition of this fabulous quarterly magazine about food and culture, my story reveals what its like to endure the the challenges of cooking  in one of the most demanding competitions in the world.  It is also about finding the elusive Bianchetti truffle at a time of year when most truffles lay dormant. But can I answer that age-old question…

…is there really a “Truffle Mafia?” 

Find out in the new Gastronomica. Order one here. or check your favorite bookseller for the Spring 2012 Issue.