Delectable Dirt

Some third-worlders eat dirt because they’re mentally ill or have no meaningful food. Diners at Tokyo’s upscale Ne Quittez Pas, though, eat it because it’s a trendy dish made by famed chef Toshio Tanabe. Among his courses are soil soup with dirty truffle flake, soil sorbet and “soil surprise” (a dirt-covered potato ball). Spoiler alert: It has a truffle center. Tanabe lightly precooks dirt and runs it through a sieve to eliminate crunchiness.