"Black Diamonds"

Every winter since we've lived here we have said "we must go to a truffle market". Ah well, yes now we have been.......ah well, yes. This year for the first time in twenty years they held a market in Gourdon. It was originally scheduled for a couple of weeks ago, but the snow came and it was cancelled.

Just a quick life history of the truffle - assuming I can remember it properly. Nicole our neighbour, lent me a book all about fungi in the Autumn with a view to identifying those growing in our field to see if they were edible. Having read the book I was none the wiser and even if I had been I wouldn't have eaten them. However I found the section on truffles fascinating. The sort-after culinary truffle is the subterranian fruiting body of a mychorizal fungus which associates with the roots of trees, predominantly oaks and hazel. There are several different varieties which are distinquished by their colour, the black ones found locally are particularly prized. They are cultivated, but it seems a very hit and miss affair, being harvested between December and March. The fungus produces a sort of herbicide so that there is a circle without vegetaion around a tree, indicating the presences of a truffle. However that is only the first clue, the "black diamond" could be absolutely anywhere within this barren area!! As I understand it, all the "wrinkles" of truffle hunting are passed on by word of mouth, in a very clandestine manner. The informant necessarily being an octagenarian and the recipient at least middle aged.

Todays market was full of the statutory "old boys" associated with any rural affair in these parts. The vendors all had a basket in front of them with truffles varying in size. Quite honestly they looked more like an obscure variety of potatoes, except that they were 850 euros a kilo!!

A chef was preparing some scrambled egg into which he grated quite a lot of truffle. We paid 2 euros for a tiny pot of this absolutely delicious scrambled egg - the only problem was we couldn't taste any truffle!! Never mind, we have learned that we need not pay extortionate prices for gourmet food which is laced with black fungus balls.

This is also the season of "gras de canard" when they sell copius quanties of duck and goose fat. Today we saw a man paying 7.50 euros a kilo for cooked duck bones. The mind boggles at what he may be going to do with them, particularly as you can buy a fresh carcass in the supermarket for 1.50 euros. I guess we are just English philistines!!