The little black girl
Lettuce with sliced truffles
The recipe: leaf salad with sliced truffles
Spelled risotto with truffle and fried fish fillet
The recipe: Dinecl risotto with truffles and fried fish fillet
Truffle Tiramisu
The recipe: truffle tiramisu
The town of Grignan in the Dôme is so enchanting that you almost forget to think about food
The latest news is hotly debated in the bistros and bars of the southern French department of Drôme Provençale. Not from November to March. During this time, the stream of world events flows past the region almost unnoticed. Doors are closed well, curtains are drawn, and before you go on his mysterious ways in the morning, you look around furtively three times.
It is truffle season in the Drôme. And their inhabitants therefore fall into a collective hunting fever. Hunted is the Black Diamond. This refers to one of the most precious edible mushrooms in the world, the black truffle, which locals here call Rabasse.
The truffle hunt has a long tradition in the Drôme. And just as long is the tradition of secrecy around it.
Hundreds of years ago, farmers stole into the woods in the winter to dig for the rabasses. Because since the Renaissance the mushrooms achieve high prices. Those who found what they were looking for did well to understate skillfully. Because the claim to have found nothing would have aroused suspicion. And the truth - robbery. The place of discovery was also kept secret.
A dog has sniffed a truffle. Now the earth is probed with a hook
In the past, pigs were used to find the highly fragrant mushrooms under the ground. Because female pigs remind the truffle smell of an attractive boar. However, the animals are difficult to keep from eating their find. That's why today dogs are used as a reward for a piece of cheese. However, it should be hard to train the dogs. If you've done it, do not brag about it - the animal could otherwise easily be stolen.
If you are looking for truffles, you must be able to keep silent. The business has been extremely discreet for centuries. And it has its very special rituals.
The long oak wood table is covered for the guests
Even the Belgian couple Bénédicte and Philippe Appels had to learn these rituals when it came to the Drôme nine years ago. The two had fallen in love during a holiday in the countryside between the Rhone and the Alps. In the lush lavender fields, the rolling hills, the pretty sandstone cottages, in short: in the southern French charm of the area, which is less crowded than the neighboring Provence.
Bénédicte and Philippe found an old mill near the town of Grignan - and decided to start again. Bénédicte gave up her job in marketing for an international corporation, and Philippe left his position as head of a car dealership in Brussels. With much love, the two Belgians converted their mill to a noble guesthouse.
Bénédicte, who until then, she says, could only make pasta, cooked for the guests. Of course this had to be with truffles - because the kitchen of the Drôme is inconceivable without them. Today Bénédicte is considered one of the best truffle cooks in France, her menus, where she does not save with the noble mushrooms, are famous.
The landlady of the "Maison du Moulin" Bénédicte Appels, is in charge of her duties and is in charge of a truffle omelette
When asked how she did it, she says lightly, "Oh, my neighbors taught me to cook."
While Bénédicte was learning how to process, her husband tried to get the best truffles. That took time. Time until he knew the right people, time until the right people knew him. Nobody likes to sell to strangers here. You can convince yourself of this on the famous truffle market in Richerenches. During the season, up to 800 kilograms of mushrooms are produced every Saturday, worth several hundred thousand euros.
But on a Saturday morning, if you turn into Avenue de la Rabasse, the main street of the market of Richerenches, you see: nothing.
No truffle mountains, no loud shouts, no tales. Just a few colorful stalls selling cheese, pastries, some lonely rabasses and a lot of bells and whistles like truffle vinegar. And this is a fortune earned here?
Psst! The gentleman with the white bag has just sold truffles, the gentleman with the dark jacket writes the price on a small piece of paper
Philippe, who likes to accompany his guests to the market, grins. Then he heads for an unobtrusive side street, the Cours du Mistral. A few leafless plane trees line the lane, with some dark suits parked underneath.People are traveling between the cars. They wear fake leather jackets or dark anoraks. Most of them hold a white supermarket plastic bag in their hands. People on the way home from the market. I would like to say.
But the people with the white bags have a different goal. They are heading for the parked station wagons. The tailgate of the cars is open, next to each is a man. You go to one of these men and furtively show him the contents of his bag: black truffles. How many, better no one else should see.
The truffle trade in the Drôme is characterized by tradition. This old-fashioned Libra belongs to a wholesaler and is still in use
The man takes a look at the goods. If he is interested, she is weighed with a letter scale, which is standing view in the trunk. Then quietly discussed the price, so quiet that no competitor can hear. Then the man writes the negotiated amount on a piece of paper and gives it to the truffle seller. He goes to the driver's seat of the car, where another man sits. Through the window, the note moves in and comes back: a bundle of bills, which is hastily put away. The market policeman, who patrols every Saturday to deter pickpockets, watches with a relaxed expression. The tax too.
Truffle oak seedlings: truffles may grow under them in fifteen years. Maybe not
The buyers are wholesalers, explains Philippe. Most of them supply top European restaurants. Dealers and suppliers have known and trusted each other for many years.
Anyone who breaks in here as a stranger is ignored. Or you turn to him the less valuable Brumale truffles, which are very similar to the Rabasses. That's what happened to him too, says Philippe.
A man in a black felt hat comes along, the truffle hunter's typical headgear. He is a friend of Philippe, he does not say his name. Like everyone here, he knows the daily rate, although no one talks aloud about what he got: Today there are around 500 euros for a kilo. Who can negotiate well, brings out 600 euros or more. Not a bad price.
But Philip's friend complains that the harvest is miserable this year, and he'll give up the cavage, the truffle search now. Philippe stays calm. "The whining is part of the ritual here," he says. Just like the subsequent rosé wine in the restaurant "L'Escapade" opposite the market. Anything that has (or has) truffles meets here at point one. One scolds, one discusses, one understates one another. And then you calmly eat the traditional brouillade, the truffle omelette, which costs 30 euros.
The complaints are not without reason. For decades, the amount of wildly found truffles has fallen, due to global warming, but also to the growing number of hunters. Anyone who can afford it therefore creates a truffle grove, a so-called Truffière. The seedlings, mostly young oak trees, can be bought everywhere. Truffle spores are already believed to adhere to the roots of these oaks. If that's really the case, you'll only get out ten years later. That's how long the mushrooms need to grow. If they do it.
Dogs to truffle search is worthwhile. You can get up to 5000 Euros for a good beagle
Philippe owns a grove. One with truffles. He drives us there. However, where "there" is, we must not betray. A mixed breed dog accompanies us, we can not reveal more.
"Allez!" Shouts Philippe. The bitch is running cross-country, her nose on the ground. After two minutes, she digs a small hole next to an oak tree. Carefully, Philippe probes the earth with an iron hook. Then he pulls out a walnut-sized dirty stone. A black truffle. It should be worth about 50 euros. A field full of money. How nice.
There are people pulling nylon strings between their trees at night, says Philippe. The cords are connected to a bell. In case of alarm, the owner immediately goes out with a rifle. However, bullets are not shot at the thieves - but at their dog. "That works." And his grove? Oh, says Philippe, stretched out, he has a deal with the neighbor ...
One of Bénédictes starters: A picodon, a fresh goat cheese from the Drôme, filled with truffles. In addition: thick truffle slices
What Philippe reaps does not end up in the market, but directly in Bénédicte's kitchen. And she conjures with it. Today there is salad with thick slices of black truffles, scallops, truffled pigeon and for dessert a truffle tiramisu. This inconspicuous mushroom that smells like old garlic and looks like a dirty stone - it's worth all the hustle and bustle.
