Food Network- Truffles 2011
Rhea
"Ah yes, you are with the show yes? Good, I am Val Jean, like the man from the play well except I am not a criminal yes? Just a man who owns land here on Rhea, excuse me my english it is not so good but I lead you around and I show you my homeworld, yes?"
The camera shows a forest.
"Rhea is special, of course all worlds that have life are special but she is a french world and thus even more special. First thing you must understand is that the people at the Project Phoenix? Well if you want a world you must tell them what you want yes? Think very deeply on what you want and even then you must accept that there are limits. Like making a scupture, you must work with the rock to create art, not against it."
He smiles as a dog runs to him it wags its tail.
"This is my truffle hound Annette, she is the good girl."
He scratched the dog behind her ears.
"So people in their eagerness think of land, of gold they do not think of everything. They do not think of the finer things, take coffee. Coffee is a delightful drink but it only grows at certain climates and most worlds? Well they do not think of such a thing. Only four planets can grow coffee. Earth of course, but also Venus because creating a tropical zone was unavoidable yes? Mars because it is a weird prototype, and Rhea because we french we think about these things."
He smiles.
"Each world shows the character of the people who made it. Mars is american so it is rough, unrefined but strong. Venus? Islamic, hot tempered but also caring nurturing. Europa united but divided, look at the zones of control and look at where the mountains are."
He points to a blue ball in the sky.
"That there? That is Titan, it is british very british, it is very rainy, energy rich and good for cold industry, it can grow tea but not coffee."
He smiles.
"But France? We were last to get a private world we had time to think, unlike Russia we are not so paranoid that we damage our own victory, non we work with others and get much better result. You see everyone is thinking of coal, of natural resources, of these temperate climates that grow temperate things."
He waved his hands around.
"They do not think of high class cusine, and no one thinks about the truffles, they are very hard to grow and need to be babied, you might in time grow them in other worlds but only in Rhea do we mass produce them."
He moves with his dog.
"We go hunting now, in Rhea all truffles are grown white, black it is a world full of them, the farmers in France they complain but the government thinks it is best to save truffles just in case, is logic yes? Of course the price of truffle is falling. It is supply and demand and on Rhea it is always Truffle season some where."
The dog backs.
"Good Annette has found something, she is good dog."
The dog digs and he smiles.
"This is the Italian white truffle, it sells for about 200 american dollars a pound, it is the most expensive of all truffles, there is quite a bit of it. This is a part of how I make my living, you see the forrest is filled with truffles of all kinds, but I also make good wine, my neighbor grows coffee and another bananas."
He shruggs.
"If this seems odd understand that Rhea is full of the micro climates, we have less coal, less of the oil and other resources, but for the finer things we are set."
He digs out the truffles.
"I got my land because I served in the war, I was there at the battle of Leon, you know we named Ironwood, the americans want to name him some thing pretentious Prometheus I think. We prevented that because we are french and it would not do to have the americans surpass us in pretentiousness yes? There can be only one king and we must keep our spot, is only logic."
He walks back to the farm.
"It is a good life, because it is a french one not the pace of Paris I talk of the real France, the France of the countryside. Here is where the soul of France lives, in good food and good wine."
He opens the door.
"Now I will show you how the truffles are handled yes?"