Truffles, the black gold of Provence

Every winter, the truffle inflames passions. A capricious tuber with a bewitching flavour, its rarity gives it a considerable aura. It is traded on the markets in Provence, but only when it is served at table does it show its true value. The magic created by great chefs who have known this subtle fragrance since childhood is in fact priceless...

Carpentras. A Friday in winter, nine o’clock in the morning and the day of the truffle market. A short whistle. At the signal, a group that has been chatting away from the crowd approaches the tables set up on a brasserie terrace. A strange ballet begins: whispers, bags furtively held open, heads bending over to inhale subtle aromas: behind the stalls, the truffle producers are repeating a hundred-year-old ritual with the brokers. Every year, from November to March, several kilos of the “black diamond” are exchanged in this way, the most sought-after being the famous melanosporum tuber.

The truffle is Comtat Venaissin’s winter attraction. It can be found in Carpentras and in Richerenches, a village in the Valréas enclave. Here, transactions take place on a Saturday, behind the producers’ vehicles. Bank notes are surreptitiously handed over. Other markets regulate the price, sometimes over 600€ a kilo: Aups, Rognes...

But it’s at the Provencal tables where the truffle comes into its own. At the Petit Nice-Passédat restaurant in Marseille, the “loup de palangre” as Lucie Passédat liked it, named after Gérald Passédat’s grandmother, is a great classic: a slice of steamed sea bass crowned with three slices of Richerenches truffle. At the Auberge de Noves, truffles feature on the menu from mid-January. The à la carte menu features “salade de pommes de terre avec de la truffe, jambon de pays et salade de roquette” (potato salad with truffles, ham and rocket salad): a hot and cold starter in which the potatoes and the truffles are served warm and the ham, rocket and fragments of parmesan cheese are added afterwards.

And the Abbaye de Saint-Croix opens its kitchens to customers for special truffle sessions. On Saturday the 21st and 28th January there are special courses in how to prepare truffles followed by a tasting of scrambled egg with truffles and truffles in chocolate... Interested groups of up to 12 people can also take part in special ‘à la carte’ courses. A perfect opportunity to unravel some of the mysteries of this tuber.

Copyright : Gérald Passédat