black diamonds of provence
Every winter in Provence between mid January and mid February is a very
exciting time for lovers of fine food. This is truffle season, full of
fevered activity, colourful characters and Machiavellian mischief.
To one side of the colourful weekly market in Carpentras with its
olives,
sausages, cheeses, vegetables and household goods a crowd gathers,
people
jostle and the atmosphere is conspiratorial with whispers and surreptitious
glances into baskets and plastic bags. People sniff, grunt and feel the
wares before scales are produced and significant sums of money changes
hands.
The object of all of this activity are what appear to be small lumps of
dirt. In fact they are the aromatic and highly prized Tuber melanosporum,
the Truffle or "Black Diamond" of Provence.
Quality truffles
will bring well
over US$3000 per kilo!
Truffles almost exclusively grow on the roots of oak trees in a very few
regions of Provence and the Perigord. There are other varieties that
grow in
Italy and other countries but have a lesser flavour
and aroma compared to the Provencale specimen.
In the past pigs were used to help find truffles because of their acute
sense of smell but they have now been replaced by dogs who unlike the
pigs
are easier to handle and not hell bent on eating the prize. There is a
lovely story from the Perigord about a man who found to his horror that
his
prize truffle pig had broken out of its pen and gone on a truffle eating
spree - quelle horror!
Truffles are left in their covering dirt to help preserve them after
harvest
and they last for 3-4 days before starting to loose their aroma and
flavour.
One of the best ways to enjoy truffles is to make an omelete with lovely
fresh farm eggs and add slivers of fresh truffle - absolutely delicious.