The truffle market. Every village in this region has one! And one is more important, has the better truffles, than all the other ones around. Riez, a small village nearby, holds its annual truffle market the last weekend of January, and then every Wednesday morning during market hours.
This year I happened to be outside the "Café de France" where the official opening ceremony was about to take place. Surrounded by the earthy scent of this subterranean fungus, people scurrying past with cloth-lined basket and shopping bags, and all around this atmosphere of busy-ness, quite unusual for this quiet town.
Varying slightly in size some of the goods were displayed on a table in the middle of the large central room, and the mayor of Riez gave a very brief speech along the lines of "I declare this truffle season open". The scent was even more intense but there was no touching allowed, this is serious business!
This year is not a good year for truffles which has been reflected in a slight increase in the price, between €70 and € 80 per 100 g. The truffle makes for some delicious meals or simply shaved over spaghetti - simply delicious!
In former times specially trained pigs were used to find this brown gold but since they would eat the truffles themselves they have since been replaced by dogs
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| back in the old days |
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| nowadays |
Things to do in winter in Provence...
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