Winter truffle market in Lalbenque
Winter truffle market in Lalbenque
R. Dose - Visitor Center Cahors - Lot Valley
Basket of truffles on the winter truffle market in Lalbenque
Basket of truffles on the winter truffle market in Lalbenque
Lot Tourisme -B.Teixeira
Outdoors, Gastronomy, Meeting

The Lalbenque truffle market

À Lalbenque

A truffle day then!

La scams appeared to me like a legendary product. It is only found in delicatessens, a luxury product par excellence. Then, in a TV report, I learned that markets were being organized in the middle of winter and outdoors around this product, which intrigued me all the same. Come on, I decide one Tuesday in February, without really specific plans, to go and meet the truffle producers. And it was an astonishing, enriching day. The winter sun was there and it certainly contributed to the magic of the moment!

Melanosporum truffle also called
Melanosporum truffle also called "black diamond"
Claude-Emmanuel Robin, the Avenue of the Vines

Truffle digging

 

Before going to the market, I had to be guided, introduced to the rituals, notably truffle digging, that is to say the way of getting it out of the ground. I have the choice between several service providers, who offer demonstrations, for a few hours or for the day, with tasting or not. They are all exciting and passionate, competent of course. You have to choose one of them and it is with Marie-France and Nouchka - who offer a digging demonstration on the morning of the market - that I set off to discover the truffle digging.

There, an astonishing new experience awaits us, Marie-France and Nouchka are ready to show us how we find the fresh truffes. No electronic devices, just the female dog's nose, in fact.

Traditionally, it was the pig that was used for truffle digging. It seems that he loves it and he finds it up to 10/20 cm deep. That's the problem, actually, is that he loves it so much, that you have to be very vigilant: 1 minute of distraction and the pig gobbles up what he finds. That’s what truffle digging is all about. This is why most use truffle dogs, who are satisfied with a reward for a truffle. It's more serene. And it’s easier to walk in the truffle forests with a dog…

If you don't have a pig or a dog, it seems that you have to follow a special fly, which lays its eggs in the truffle. Yeah, I ask to see. But the flies don't fly.

Anyway, it was a really fun and interesting time. Marie-France shares with us all her knowledge inherited from her ancestors and from a long practice on truffles, cavagement, market codes, the quality of the soil of a region or a country, from one season to the next. other, its eternal secrets. Yes, the truffle remains an enigma sometimes, even for the most experts.

At the end of this demonstration, we can taste truffle products : aperitif or toast with truffled butter. Others also offer cooking classes or other activities. It was a delicate appetizer before the delicious things: lunch!

I take this opportunity to share with you ideas of truffle recipes.

Hurry to the table for the rest!

Truffle-based meal offered at the Château de Mercuès
Truffle-based meal offered at the Château de Mercuès
Castle of Mercuès

Restaurants in the village of Lalbenque or in the surrounding area compete with menus dedicated to scams. Difficult to choose, sure to succeed... a rare, simple and delicious meal. They say that the people here are nice, in fact they are warm, welcoming, sharing, in a good mood. I appreciated this lightness around the meal, which will go down in history and already calls for a digestive walk. After a famous, generous - and reasonable in price - truffle omelette, so I go to the market.

Restaurants offering truffle-based menus: 

Lalbenque market

Caumique Camille Chretien

We dive into another era, another universe.

Certainly the retail market will allow me to buy a small truffle adapted to my means and my needs. But it is the wholesale market which offers an astonishing spectacle. The bell rings. Buyers and sellers observe each other out of the corner of their eyes, speak in whispers, but with the number of them, they make up quite a hubbub, quite jovial, especially with that southwest accent bouncing all along the benches, who carry the baskets. We can clearly see that they are measuring, studying, sniffing, negotiating and the baskets are leaving little by little. Some buyers - merchants or restaurateurs, I was told, or rather good gourmands, in my opinion - will have their baskets weighed, to be certain of their bargain. It's not very very long, depending on the markets, they explained to me.

 

But the day is not over: there are also culinary entertainment by expert chefs, in the company of local winegrowers and producers, all very complementary in the art of presenting food and wine pairings around truffles.

In any case, it really desecrated truffle and its market in my eyes. It was an amazing and memorable experience, meal and atmosphere.

Truffle prices (Wholesale market) March 5, 2024

650 € / kg

Discover the truffle

Truffle producers

Virginie Seguin
Virginie Seguin
A. Laudouar

Why did I write such a long text? Because I am talkative, even in writing, and above all because I found this experience exciting and enriching. I told it to a lot of friends and they were won over. So why not with Internet users? It was worth it. You will tell me ! And if you go there, say hello to Nouchka for me...

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