French Truffle Market |
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| In January 2003 we visited the weekly truffle market at
Lalbenque near Cahors in Southwest France. Held every Tuesday afternoon from
December to March, this is the premiere truffle market in the Quercy region.
More on the market can be found (in French) at the Lalbenque tourist office
web site. |
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| Though the market doesn't begin until 2:30 PM, vendors begin lining up along the main street of Lalbenque around noon or before. | |
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| Until the market opens , a rope separates the sellers from
the buyers. But that doesn't prevent conversation back and forth, inspection
of baskets, smelling the truffles' powerful aroma, etc. We even had a TV
crew recording the action. One elegant, nattily-attired gentlemen in the
crowd we dubbed "the film director." (We noted later that he purchased
several baskets.) |
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| We estimated there were well over 100 vendors, who came in all shapes and sizes, providing quite an array of classic "types." | |
| While waiting for rope to drop, many of the buyers enjoyed
truffle omelet and other delicacies at the Lion d'Or and other local
restaurants. Then, at exactly 2:30, the street became a mob scene. Buyers
would inspect the contents of a vendor's basket, with much animated
discussion of quality and quantity. Then buyer and seller together would
repair to the official scale (only one for the whole village!) in front of
the Mairie to determine the weight and agree on a final price. It appeared
that baskets generally were between 1 and 2 kilos, and that the going price
was around 300 euros per kilo. |
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