Curio Cabinet

The best way for a hunter to track their prey is by scent, even if that prey is a fungus. A highly-prized ingredient that has been used by countless cultures, truffles, a type of wild-growing fungus, can command outrageous prices. They have been “hunted” for centuries using pigs and dogs trained to seek their distinct scent, and it’s a practice that will likely never be replaced by conventional farming techniques.
 
Truffles are no ordinary fungus. They’ve been sought after for millennia for their complex flavor and aroma, often described as earthy, musky, and even a little pungent. Around the 15th century, truffle hunters in Italy and France started using pigs to track down truffles, a tradition that continues to this day. The practice has been mostly passed down through oral tradition, and in many places it’s considered a cultural institution. In fact, it was added to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2021.
 
To understand why truffles must be hunted rather than cultivated, it’s important to understand their biology and life cycle. Truffles survive by forming a symbiotic relationship with trees, using their roots to seek nutrients for the trees in exchange for the sugar the trees produce via photosynthesis. These conditions are practically impossible to recreate in a greenhouse or traditional field. Despite their similarities, truffles aren’t mushrooms, but another type of fungus with a fruiting body that grows under the soil. Instead of releasing spores into the air, truffles attract mammals with a unique scent, and when they are consumed, their spores are spread around through the animal’s droppings. So, unlike mushrooms, truffles can’t be spotted with the naked eye, no matter how plentiful they may be in a given area.
 
A successful truffle hunt begins with the hunter’s knowledge of the land. Different hunters (called tartufai in Italy) have varying opinions on whether pigs or dogs are better, and both have their pros and cons. Pigs—female pigs in particular—are naturally inclined to seek out truffles to begin with. That’s because the scent that the truffles produce contains androstenol, a compound similar to the sex pheromones produced by male pigs. Pigs have one major downside, though: they like to eat truffles just as much as people do. Even trained truffle pigs often end up eating the truffles they find, and for that reason, their use has been banned in Italy since 1985. Dogs are the obvious second choice, with their highly developed sense of smell. They’re more biddable and easily trained than pigs, and they don’t have much interest in eating truffles themselves. Regardless of how they’re found, once truffles are located they must be harvested with a delicate hand so as not to disturb soil conditions. That way, the same spot can produce more truffles in the future.
 
Although most edible truffles were found in Europe in the past, truffles are being discovered in more and more places today. People have also found a way to grow truffles, though not in the same way that most crops are grown. The first truffle orchards were created in the 19th century by transplanting oak saplings found near trees with truffles growing around them. Since then, orchards have been developed around the world, but even an orchard doesn’t guarantee that truffles will grow successfully, and the method of locating and harvesting them remains the same. Whether in the wild or in a carefully maintained orchard, truffle pigs or dogs remain the best way to “hunt” this elusive fungus. If you’re hankering for a taste of truffles, let us be the first to wish you happy hunting.

 
[Image description: A small pizza with black truffles and other mushrooms.] Credit & copyright: Andy Li, Wikimedia Commons. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

If the heat of late summer is getting you down, it might be time to chill out with some noodles. Naengmyeon, a Korean dish of cold noodles, is a great way to beat the heat without having to eat something sweet, like ice cream. This simple dish has a complex history that spans back centuries.
 
Naengmyeon is made with long buckwheat noodles in a cold beef, chicken, or dongchimi broth. The latter is a clear, tangy, acidic broth made during the process of fermenting a type of white radish. The dish is often topped with sliced vegetables and a boiled egg. Traditionally, naengmyeon’s long noodles were eaten without biting or cutting, as their length signified prosperity and long life. Today, though, the dish is often served with special scissors specifically for cutting the noodles.
 
The first archaeological evidence of naengmyeon dates back to the Joseon era, between 1392 and 1897. However, the dish could be even older. Though several different varieties of naengmyeon exist today, the first ones originated in North Korea, specifically the southern city of Hamhung and the nation’s capital, Pyongyang. Bibim naengmyeon, a variety of naengmyeon that’s still eaten in North Korea today, is topped with a spicy, red chili paste.
 
The 1940s saw major tensions arise in Korea, as the communist North and non-communist South split ideologically. When North Korea invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950, the Korean war officially broke out, with the Soviet Union supporting North Korea and the U.S. supporting South Korea. During and immediately following the war, in which the Korean Peninsula became permanently divided, thousands of refugees poured into the South, bringing their regional foods with them. This included naengmyeon. Today, the dish is popular throughout all of South Korea, with regional varieties utilizing different broths, vegetables, and meats, including seafood. War might divide, but food always unites.

 
[Image description: A bowl of naengmyeon, noodles with broth, topped with vegetables, in a silver bowl surrounded by utensils and side dishes.] Credit & copyright: Suohros, Wikimedia Commons. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

Not only does it feel real, it can cause real headaches. As sophisticated AI chatbots were becoming mainstream a few years ago, one psychiatrist predicted a form of psychosis would arise from them. Now, it seems, that grim prediction has come true. Soon after ChatGPT was made available to the masses in 2023, Danish psychiatrist Søren Dinesen Østergaard warned that prolonged interaction with such chatbots would lead to mental health crises in predisposed individuals. More specifically, he believed that chatbots would trigger and reinforce delusional beliefs in the users, leading to a variety of issues. Many users simply become addicted to conversing with the chatbot, while others believe that the chatbot can understand them better than any human companion. Then there are those who believe that they are being spied upon at the chatbot’s suggestion, becoming steeped in a sense of paranoia. Chatbots can also trigger grandiose delusions, in which the user comes to believe that they are the “chosen one” or that they have some special spiritual or cosmic role.
 
While it may sound farfetched, these kinds of mental health crises can prove very serious. Of course, AI isn’t designed to create such problems. The reason they sometimes trigger such behavior in those who are predisposed to mental illness is because chatbots are often trained to be encouraging and tell the user what they want to hear. Especially in cases of grandiose delusions, chatbots were observed giving spiritual advice and bombarding users with flattery. According to Østergaard and similarly-minded critics of AI chatbots, a recent update in ChatGPT made it even more people-pleasing, making it more likely to trigger delusions. Since AI psychosis is a new phenomenon, experts like Østergaard are calling for a systematic review of cases to better understand the causes and formulate treatments. In the meantime, they warn that it can affect both those who are already diagnosed with conditions like schizophrenia, but also those who have undiagnosed or latent risk factors. Blue light glasses probably aren’t going to cut it when it comes to reducing harm from excessive screen time.