The truffle market of Riez |
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Collection title
Actualités Méditerranée
First broadcast date
12/09/1958
Abstract
Interesting reportage by Axel Toursky about truffle hunters in Upper Provence, in Riez La Romaine.
We follow the hunters accompanied with their "assistants", pigs or dogs. Later, all the men gather in the back room of the Lima café, to fix the prices of the precious product before dispatching it by bus.
Primary theme
Markets and crafts
Secondary themes
- Landscapes and environment / Geography and landscapes
- Society and way of life / Cooking / Cooking traditions
Credits / Cast
- Toursky Axel - Journalist
Map locations
- France - South East - Riez la Romaine
Context
Truffles of Riez
Mayalen Zubillaga
The truffle, that naturally grows in calcareous soils at the foot of Truffle trees- as they are called- have been picked ever since antiquity. The lands of Provence provide numerous species of edible mushrooms, including the famous tuber melanosporum, also known as “black truffle”, which grows in many territories, notably the Plateau de Valensole in the Alpes-de-haute-Provence where the Riez commune is located. Since the 18th century, the fresh truffles of Provence have been the main product of the Carpentras markets, where truffle selling is still standing strong until this day.
Yet, it was not until the 19th century that the truffle culture was systematized and managed. The first plantations took place in Provence precedent to the golden age of the truffle agriculture that started at the end of the 19th century. Nonetheless, during the middle-age and the Renaissance era, the truffle was considered as an uncouth, rural aliment, as it is the element of “earth” from which it emanated. Only in the 17th and 18th century that the truffle became a showpiece of the French cuisine, its position has seemingly ascended proportionally with its reputation as aphrodisiac! Moreover, its price has gradually skyrocketed in the markets, while it has become a luxurious dish in Paris, bearing a status of “quality regional specialty.”
Provence remains the major French producer of black truffle, which is known as well as « black Périgord truffle.” In his book “History of Provence recipes”, Simone Martin-Villevieille note that since the 19th century, “the truffles of Provence has been ennobled and named after “Périgord”, an ancient province which more or less corresponds to the present department of Dordogne. The current practice is not new, from December and until February, brokers are all over Carpentras, Forcalquier and Riez, where the producers of Provence send a part of their truffles each week to Dordogne. The “Périgord Truffle” is therefore a botanical designation rather than geographical.
Bibliography:
-CHAZOULE Carole, The unfinished history of Truffle domestication « L’histoire inachevée de la domestication truffière », Ruralia [Online], 15 | 2004, posted online July, 1st 2008, consulted March, 19 2013. URL : http://ruralia.revues.org/1029
-Marcilhac Vincent, Geography of Truffle : Luxury lies in the local « Géographie de la truffe : le luxe est dans le terroir », Cafés géographiques [Online], Posted Octobre 10, 2006, consulted March 20, 2013. URL :http://www.cafe-geo.net/article.php3?id_article=937
-Martin-Villevieille Simone, History of Provence recipes, 10 centuries of gourmet tradition « Histoire des recettes de Provence. 10 siècles de tradition gourmande, Jeanne Laffitte, 2000.
-TANET Chantal, The Truffle : usage, ancient recipres « La truffe : Histoire, Usages, Recettes anciennes », Éditions Sud Ouest, 2006.