Food

We don’t want to offend folk from the Périgord region, but in fact Provence is the best location for the tuber melanosporum, the queen of the black truffle. This rare mushroom with an intense flavor warms the hearts of gourmets in the depths of winter.

 

By Jerôme Dumur - November 17, 2011

Known as much for his fine palate as his musical talent, the composer Gioacchino Rossini one day called the tuber melanosporum, the ultimate black truffle, “the Mozart of mushrooms.” An exaggeration? Certainly not! Associating 70 different aromatic components, its heady perfume fully justifies the Italian’s eulogy. My goodness, what power! It’s as if this little bit of mold has concentrated inside itself all the smells of the earth that produced it. [Remove sentence.] Indeed you have to see the “brûlés,” those big circles of sterile earth which form around the base of trees when truffles develop there… They appear to have absorbed everything! Forgotten for a long time

because of the Church, which saw in this black mushroom , growing as it does underground and a favorite with pigs and boars, a “creature of the Devil,” the truffle was given new popularity by François 1st. In Spain, where Charles Quint kept him prisoner after the Battle of Pavia, the Capetian discovered the unforgettable aroma of the “black diamond,” a nickname tied not to its price but to the facets that appear on its surface when it’s cleaned. Won over, he commanded it for the royal kitchens as soon as he returned to Paris. A food of kings, the black truffle remains so today because of its increasing rarity. In 150 years, French production has

collapsed from 1,320 to just 20 to 40 tons depending on the year! Hence a price that makes a joke out of a barrel of petrol. It hovers around 600 Euros at the beginning of the season, then climbs 30% to 40% during winter. A luxury? Without a doubt. But it can be enjoyed in the simplest ways, because the truffle adapts very well to the most modest or exuberant expression: scrambled eggs or a baked potato topped with sour cream and grated truffle. This masterpiece is accessible to all. But still you must know how to choose your truffle! To start with, fresh ones are preferable. Indeed the sterilization process involved in preserving it damages its aromatic richness.

The ugliest ones are often the best. It’s the same with carrots: the more the truffle has trouble growing, the better it will taste. It must be firm, as softness is a sign of over ripeness and the insipid taste that goes with it. It must be dark. If it’s red, it’s not mature. It should be dark inside too, delicately marbled with white. And rather than from Périgord, choose one from Provence ! The southern soils are more limey, poorer – qualities that actually enhance the truffles. The intense heat and violent storms of the Provençal summer also promote its development.

Discover

la Maison de la Truffe et du Vin du Luberon 84560 Ménerbes.
sales, tastings, and introductory workshops.
www.vin-truffe-luberon.com

To see

From mid-November, the truffle markets thrive throughout Provence. Thursday, an appointment is made in Aups, in the Upper Var, at the gates of the Verdon National Park. Friday, the stalls are fragrant in the heart of Carpentras. On Saturday, the black diamond sparkles in the streets of Richerences, a charming town in the Vaucluse that hosts the biggest market of its kind in all of Europe