Fête internationale de la truffe à Sarlat et plus!

For anyone that has read any of the Peter Mayle books (A Year In Provence, etc.), you cannot help but be curious about a black fungus that grows under ground on walnut tree roots and are found by a pig leading you around to sniff out where the fungus is hidden. I am talking of course about Black Truffles. In his book Peter Mayle tells of his adventure finding truffles and the olfactory pleasure of placing your napkin over your head, bending over a hot dish with black truffles and deeply inhaling through your nose to trap and breath in the scent and the culinary extasy of tasting black truffles in an omelet. I hope by now you are a little bit intrigued so that you can share the excitement that Katie and I had to go to the Fête internationale de la truffe à Sarlat (International Truffle Festival in Sarlat)

Katie and I had seen posters (like the one below) around Bordeaux and were trying to figure out how we would get there and back. We had dinner with our Belgium friends, Philipe and Cindy, and discovered that they were interested in going also. They have a car and offered that we could all go there together! So we got up early on the 17th and head out to Sarlat, which is about 2 hours East of Bordeaux (Click here to see Bordeaux to Sarlat).

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When we got there, we headed to the guided tour of Sarlat. Little did we know that the tour was going to be a play acted out by these three characters that interwove a story with facts about the city. Sarlat is a well-preserved medievil town.

Here is statue looking out on the main street where the festival was talking place.

Here is a shot of the all of us tasting some scrambled eggs with truffle on a slice of baguette.

Not only were there stands with everything truffle-related, there were many others including some specialties of the region: Foie Gras, walnuts/walnut oil, pruneaux d’agneau (prunes). The man pictured above was by far the nicest and most genous (Katie thought he was too generous) of all the stands. Here is a list of all that he let us, and eventually, made us taste. Chocolate covered walnuts, candied (carmelized) walnuts, candied (carmelized)-chocolate-powdered sugared covered walnuts, walnut bread, biscuits with walnuts, an apertif of truffle (sounds gross but was really good), an apertif of chestnut, an apertif of peach, an apertif of strawberry, and more that we can remember. Needless to say, we gave him some business in return.

They had gourmet chefs of local restaurants giving cooking displays using truffles.

A closer look at the "Black Diamonds"

Assessing and an education about the black truffle

After the festival we walked aroung the town. This was the Jardin Public. I thought it looked eerily cool lined with these trees.

Foie gras is serious business around here. These geese are immortalized in bronze in one of the town squares.

Just cruel...serving Foie Gras (bad enough, the way it is made) then serve it on a plate with the birds head. Wish it didn't taste so good.

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After the festival, we drove to a local village called La Roque Gageac along the Dordogne River. It has been labeled among the most beautiful villages in France.

To the left you can see the roof which is heavy stone laid on top of one another, a remanent of medievil times. The roofs can way several tons!

The church

Our picnic...

...with a great view.

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That night we went out on the town for a belated birthday dinner celebration for Elodie (our flatmate). The place we went was pretty crazy. Dinner, live music of all sorts, people singing along, jumping up on tables and chairs, and more. It was a great time.

Pretty standard salad in Bordeaux, but some thing we don't eat back home: salade de gésiers (Gizzard salad) .

The accordian player and video below.

Can you name the French Film this song comes from?? (Answer at the end of the blog)

Up above the tables in the little arch, there was the guitar player.

Lock arms, sway side to side and sing along. If you don't know the words, just yogurt your way through the songs like we did.

Elvis or Johnny Hallyday?? Unfortunately, neither.

Us.

Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

Philipe and Cindy, the Belgium couple.

Totally did not plan this shot but put it on the blog because Katie said it looked like a posed-model shot. Just need a little airbrush and it could be a 'Glamour Shot' portrait.

The flatmates.

Some of the craziness!! ;)

Answer to the question about the accordian player: The movie is Amélie, check it out if you haven't, it's a good one.