A visit to the Marché aux Truffes

For many years we have been reading about french truffles, but never have we been in France at the right time of year to try them .

A friend told us about a great truffle market at Sainte Alvère in the Perigord region not far from us, so we decided to take a look. The market is held every Monday morning in winter in the village hall.

a bit frosty along the roadside

We left home early for the one hour drive into the hills toward Perigueux. Despite the sun shining, as we travelled higher the temperature dropped to -3 deg and the fields and vines were still covered in a heavy frost – at 10.00am !

everyone had arrived by 10.00am opening time

the local park was also a little chilly

the Office de Tourisme - isn't it pretty ?

We had to park on the edge of town, along with everyone else,  and walk in to  the hall. It wasn’t hard to find as there was a crowd huddled around the closed door waiting for opening time. Monday is market day in the square at Sainte Alvère so there were stalls with fresh fruit and vegetables, walnuts and oils, cheeses, rotisseried chickens, gourmet coffee and teas, and even vin chaud ( hot mulled wine) to keep away the chill. Apart from the wine, no-one was particularly interested in anything but truffles.

As truffles are sold by weight , it  has been known for sellers to leave dirt attached, or to insert shotgun pellets to increase their value. Some buyers have also found that, instead of the prized black truffle of the Perigord, they have bought  a lesser quality white truffle that has been dyed with tea.

certificates at the ready and waiting patiently for buyers to decide

To ensure customer confidence all the truffles at this market must be checked by the ‘commissionaires de qualité’ appointed by the commune and graded and issued with a certificate of compliance. This year the prices varied from €600 to  €800 per kilo (AUD 870 to AUD 1160) , depending on the quality, so there is a lot at stake.

waiting patiently for the doors to open

a bit of a crush inside

The doors opened and we were overwhelmed by the not unpleasant aroma of fresh truffle. As everyone surged forward we let the crowd drag us into the hall. It was a small space with tables arranged around the walls and each seller with his finds displayed for all to see and smell. We tried a few and eventually chose one just big enough for a couple of meals for the two of us at 51g  for €40 – a bargain.

51 grams for €40.00 - yes that's €800.00 per kilo !

We are storing it in a container filled with risotto rice and eggs. The idea is that the truffle will infuse these with it’s perfume and will add to the flavour of the dishes we make with them – we had decided on an omelette and a risotto. We’ll let you know the results.

Bonne dégustation mes amis