Black Truffles

One of my favourite places in the world is Bressac, near Périgueux in the heart of Périgord, in south-west France. It’s a beautiful area, and I just love the house that I stay in when I’m there. It has a very comfortable old sofa, a big wood fire and probably the best equipped kitchen I have ever seen. There’s a wonderfully seasoned, black cast iron pan that seems to cook everything brilliantly - what I would give to own that pan!

Every year I visit Bressac especially for the truffle season. Being in the right place at the right time in order to get your hands on fresh truffles, just as they come out of the earth, isn’t easy to achieve. Production is small, the season is short and the harvest changes dramatically from one week to another, depending on rainfall and temperature. Truffle growers are notoriously secretive about their methods and their supplies, and the black market is lively.