Truffle season

Two days ago our good friend and neighbour Gaby, dropped over unexpectedly with treasures in his pockets. He had taken advantage of the sunshine (very important when looking for truffles a la mouche) and had set about rummaging under his oak trees in search of truffles... and so we found ourselves the very lucky owners of two beautiful, fresh and pungent black truffles gifted to us - just because that is what amazing neighbours we have!

Sealed within a bowl with some fresh eggs for 24 hours ....the egg infused with truffle goodness. After 24 - 48 hours you can take the truffles out of the dish and use them for many other delicious recipes including truffle tapenade/pesto or drop one in a bottle of olive oil and let it infuse the oil which is then amazing for cooking.

The two truffles in the photo above have only been washed lightly.... but before preparing them for inclusion in the omelette I scrubbed them with a special toothbrush we have in the kitchen for truffle cleaning (oh the luxury of needing a toothbrush for the abundance of truffles in our life!!) and then I sliced the truffle very finely. When I first discovered cooking with truffles I was amazed at how soft the truffle is and it literally melts under a knife like butter.

Last night we decided a truffle omelette was in order, with a side of boiled potatoes....simple but oh so indulgent and delicious! The trick is not to add the truffle until very near the end of cooking your omelette as it loses its flavour as it is cooked.

A few years ago we were invited for dinner in a famous local truffle farmers house, it was very simple homely food, no fancy flourishes and definitely no seating plan :-). On the menu, Green salad with large slices of truffle, Wild Boar stew with truffle and the above truffle omelette. For someone who had never tasted truffle before it was a heady night and the pungent aroma of truffle penetrated every pore of the house ... incredible!

Here in Lacoste the truffle is not reserved for haute cuisine, if you are lucky to have a truffle dog or indeed have the 'nose' and patience to use the 'a la mouche' method you will be rewarded from December - February with these little jewels and the locals prefer to use it in simple rustic cooking... our village may be very very quiet and not warm enough for the regular tourists yet but us locals know how to reward ourselves for sticking it out through the cold till Spring arrives!

You can read more about Truffling 'a la mouche' and a truffle supper in my earlier post here