Magic Truffles?
SHROOM BAN
MEANS MORE MAGICAL TRUFFLES FOR THE NETHERLANDS
By Hamilton Morris
In the bucolic pastures of Hazerswoude-Dorp, nestled in verdant fields of ruminating Holsteins, lazy windmills, and pert tulips, lies a quaint Dutch farm that functions as the worlds largest psilocybin-containing-truffle factory. To be clear, the truffles this farm produces, often called philosophers stones, are not technically truffles (or stones) but rather a distinct fungal propagule that serves a separate biological function from that of a mushroom.
The mushroom constitutes the reproductive body, or fruit, of the fungus from which spores are dispersed; upon germination these spores combine to form a fluffy network of threads called mycelium. If the conditions are not correct for the mycelium to organize itself into mushrooms, certain species will form tangled clumps of mycelial tissue called sclerotia. In 2008, the Dutch government banned virtually every known psilocybin-mushroom species but neglected to outlaw the humble hypogeal sclerotium. Overnight these scleroid nuggets of fungal fleshtrufflesbecame the only legal source of psilocybin in the Netherlands, and so I flew to Amsterdam to learn about their history and propagation.
When I arrived at the Magic Truffles farm, its two proprietors, known as the Truffle Brothers, were unpacking a realistic five-foot-tall plastic alien and making plans to dress the alien like Bob Marley and construct a large faux joint for it to smoke. We sat down for a chat.
VICE: Who are you, and what is your business?
Ali: My name is Ali. Next to me is my brother, Murat. We are known as the Truffle Brothers. Youre here at the farm of Magic Truffles. We produce sclerotia, also known as magic truffles, here in Hazerswoude-Dorp, which is approximately 30 kilometers south of Amsterdam.
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