I just returned to Paris after a spectacular week at the Auberge de la Truffe in the Dordogne (the Perigord) where 6 of us feasted on truffles, foie gras, walnuts and walnut oil, and delicious wines from Bergerac.
We had adventures and wonderful food every day. But, the highlight of the week was on Sunday when the entire day was devoted to truffles. After breakfast we drove on small country roads to the village of Mareuil, just north of the charming town of Brantome (known as the ‘Venice of the Dordogne’), encircled all round by the Dronne River and linked to the outside world by five bridges. We met Daniel, our truffle hunter, outside the 15th century Chateau de Mareuil in his white truck. He was very well dressed for a farmer, in a loden green jacket with matching hat and sturdy brown boots. He sported satchels fore and aft. We soon discovered that the front leather satchel hid handfuls of delicious roasted corn, the secret to a pig’s heart, perfect for distracting him from the pungent truffles once he found them. Every time he found a truffle, Daniel would quickly drop a handful of the corn two feet away, moving the 350 lb. pig aside allowing him to dig quickly for his ‘black gold’.
We followed Daniel to a beautiful manor house perched on a hill where he had arranged for us to hunt that morning. We gathered around the truck and his prize 6-year-old pig waddled down the ramp backwards, so huge she looked straight out of the Macy’s Day Parade.
I asked her name and when Daniel told me it was Nini, I burst out laughing. Nini is the name my grandson Ronan calls me! I had never met another Nini so this was certainly an auspicious beginning. With Daniel gently tweaking her ear with his little switch, and coaxing her along, Nini went to work , eager to get her roasted corn, finding a truffle right away, using her impressive snout to sniff them out, root around, and expose them just a few inches below the gravely soil. Daniel immediately threw some corn to the side as she was about to devour the truffle, using his truffle tool to dig a little further, unearthing the first truffle, deftly dropping it in his aft satchel. It was enormous, nearly the size of a baseball! From then on Nini worked non-stop for an hour, discovering a truffle or two every five minutes.
We were astounded. Once or twice Daniel caught her faking a truffle find to get extra corn. He chastised her, tweaking her ear lovingly. After only one hour she had found nearly 3-1/2 pounds of these black diamonds worth over $2000. AMAZING! Daniel said it was one of the best years for truffles in a long time and that Nini was the best of his three pigs. He brought her especially for me because on my previous trip it was a bad year and we didn’t find a single truffle. Daniel put Nini back in the little truck, dropping corn far inside and tweakng her ear and curly-cue tail lightly with his switch. With a gleam in his eye, Daniel unfastened his bulging back satchel, pouring out a small mountain of black diamonds. Though the proceeds at market from his stash would be shared with the master of the manor house, we proudly took our positions behind the truffle pile for our group picture, Daniel beaming proudly.
When we asked how you teach a 350 pound pig to hunt for truffles, Daniel smiled knowingly. “In the old days we used to put truffle juice on mother pig’s teats and they hunted for that taste ever after. Now we use more modern behavioral modification techniques on juvenile pigs pairing truffle juice and roast corn.”
After lunch at a nearby restaurant, we returned to the Auberge de la Truffe for a truffle cooking class with Chef Pierre Corre.
The aroma was intoxicating! We began by making truffle butter, to be served on toast points as appetizers with our aperitifs. Next came a wonderful cream of celery root soup redolent with truffles, served with dollops of whipped cream and generous truffle shavings, made to mimic a cappuccino.
Our next course paired truffled omelettes with truffled scrambled eggs . In Perigord they say truffles with eggs are a marriage made in heaven, but locals argue about which style is better. Pierre says it’s a matter of personal taste, but the unique way he makes each adds to the mystique. The previous Sunday, drawing people from all over, he personally made 56 omelettes, beating out scrambled eggs. Our eggs were served with a lovely red wine from Péchment, Chateau Roc Saint-Albert, 2008.
We moved on to searing our magret de Canard (fattened duck breast), first scoring the fat side placed down. The Magret a la Royale (duck breast with foie gras and truffles) was served perfectly pink and topped with lightly sautéed pieces of foie gras and truffles and napped with a sauce Périgordine (reduced duck stock, port or Madeira, and truffles).
One member of our group moaned with pleasure, saying this dish was the best thing she had ever tasted!! We enjoyed Chateau de Parisseau-Madame Jane 2009, paired perfectly.
Finally, we put together our dessert, Ile Flottante å laTruffle (truffle-flavored floating island—recipe to follow). We whipped egg whites until stiff, then folding in the truffles and sugar. Finally, with large spoons we formed fluffy quenelle islands. We also made a truffle-flavored crème Anglais which we spooned into individual dessert bowls, forming a delicious sea on which we then floated our truffle islands.
Pierre shaved in a few more truffle slices on top for good measure, following May West’s famous comment, “Too much of a good thing is not enough!”
And Voilå, our incredible truffle feast was ready. We took off our Les Liaisons Delicieuses aprons, and sailed out into the dining room to eat our creations. That night we all dreamed about truffles, as pigs named Nini jumped over our moons.
Ile Flottante a la Truffle
(Truffle-Flavored Floating Island)
(serves 8)
1 quart truffle-flavored crème anglais
12 egg whites
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 ounces minced truffles
1. Whisk the egg whites until stiff (forming peaks).
2. Combine with the sugar, and the minced truffles to taste.
3. Using two spoons, form the mixture into quenelle shapes
4. And cook by steaming in 2% milk briefly (1/2 minute on each side, flipping them with spoon—don’t let the milk boil.
5. Serve in bowls of crème Anglais with a bit of truffle grated over the top.
Truffle-flavored Crème Anglaise (an incredibly easy way to make it)
1. Beat 6 egg yolks and 100 grams sugar together with a mixer until lifting a spoonful ‘makes a ribbon’ below the spoon. In France that’s called ‘blanchir’
2. Heat 2 cups of 2% milk bringing just to a boil.
3. Pour heated milk into egg-sugar mixture and stir until mixed.
4. Then pour this mixture into another metal bowl in ice water, stirring until it thickens slightly. Et Voilå, quick crème Anglais!
5. Put a handful of minced truffles into the crème anglaise
