The Truffle Hop

Winter is the time for hunting out the elusive black truffle. This is when it is ripe and ready for harvest. We have centred our new Trufffle Hop around the tiny truffle festival in Campagnac les Quercy. This is an historic festival with gastronomic delights, chefs, country dancers and a rare insight into traditions of olde in the heart of the Dordogne, the gastronomic heart of France.

It is the south west of France that some of the biggest and best black truffles are to be found and many truffle hunters follow the tradition of using a dog to sniff them out.

Over the weekend you will experience different stages in the truffle trade seeing the hunt for the truffle with the dog, visiting the festival of truffle at Campagnac les Quercy and then a five course truffle lunch and an opportunity to truffle your own foie gras and take it home with you!

Here is an example of gastronomic fun. Three different bries. One brie rich with truffles but with added mascarpone to make the truffle pungency more thorough. Only champagne can harmonise with these flavours. Brie de noix stuffed with walnuts and soft cheese. It looks more like a cake and with a Chateau Chalon vin jaune this is pure heaven. The last is brie is a Brie de Melun all on its own and made through lactic fermentation with no rennet added. This is acidic and an acquired taste. It is there to be made aware of!

We will also visit the charming village of Bès where we see that back in the eleventh century mushrooms were venerated as much then as they are today!