White gold and Black diamond season

Some people will tell you that the truffle comes from the "Périgord" and accidentally from other places. Not at all ! the tuber mélanosporum vittadini also called black truffle is mainly harvested for more than 60% in the south of France and particularly over 68 towns of the Drôme department. It gets now the "Appellation Contrôlée Truffe Noire du Tricastin", label guaranteeing the quality of the product and appears in majesty on all the tables of the area, that has made it the spear-head of the winter tourist season.

Guest tables, truffle growers, stared-restaurants, all of tem organize week ends as said here-below. At the programme, visit of the markets then, the participants are invited to "caver" i.e.: find and dig up the truffle. "caver" is the French word to describe the truffles harvest with a dog.

The dog is educated to recognize the truffle aroma at the bottom of the oaks.  We let it dig up a few then we steal the truffle just before it eats it. Of course, the dog needs to be rewarded with a cake or a piece of "Gruyère" cheese.

The bond is very strong between the dog and its master and it is a great moment of complicity for both of them. There are a lot of "Labradors"  in the truffle orchards but as truffle-growers say, mongrels often are the most effective. In that, like in many other things, you are or you are not gifted !

The truffle markets which take place in this area are worth the detour. It is in "Richerenches" that the most famous "Grands Chefs" from Rhône-Alpes and from elsewhere can be seen marching and all of them, without any exception, display a truffle menu for the beginning of the year. The season spreads from November to March and it is in January that truffles are nicely ripe and at their apogee.

Markets are not very picturesque, negotiations are made in front of the car boots. truffles are weight on steelyards, then they are wrapped, sorted but not brushed. Some of them are well and truly round, some others, depending on the soil they have grown up in, are totally fussy. In the past in the countryside, those ones were not even kept, They used to be given to the pigs !

To know more about the truffle and to purchase few specimen, you will go to "Maison de la Truffe et du Tricastin" in "Saint Paul Trois Châteaux". During three days on  February 17^th, 18^th and 19^th, the truffle festivals are hold in the village and above all, the truffle mass is not to be missed in "Richerenches" on the 3^rd January Sunday. When taking the collection, the priest hands the bowl round to have truffles left. He is not stupid, the kilo is worth at least 1000 euros. That is more than enough to have the church roof rebuilt !