Le marché de la truffe noire à Courbevoie

Yesterday I went black truffle hunting in Paris at Le Marché de la Truffe de Perigord in the suburb of Courbevoie, just a bit north of Paris, near Pont de Levalloise (end of line 3). And then a short bus ride (275) to Stade.

But first I ate lunch. The renown truffle pasta at Big Mamma East to fortify myself for the jaunt to Courbevoie. ‘Pâte à la truffe’ with freshly made ribbon-shaped pasta with frilly edges, mascarpone, black truffle cream and little mushrooms (18€).

If I’d waited and I could have had truffled eggs instead. 

This is an annual controlled marché with a guarantee of buying fresh, quality truffles. An approved inspector checks each of the truffles. They are weighed and classified by species and quality. 

Only Tuber Melanosporum and Tuber Brumale(from Burgundy) species are accepted for sale in the winter markets. Most of the marchés take place in the Dordogne so it is quite a treat to have them come all the way to Paris to share their treasures.

The first truffier was very helpful explaining the differences between Perigord black, Italian white and Provence Summer truffles. By the way you don’t need to smell the actual truffle to get their amazing scent. Instead inhale the glass cover and float away on a dreamy cloud.

When you go snuffling for truffles, you dont want to get the wrong thing.  Learn this word. TUBER MELANASPORUM. Read carefully the ingredients on any black truffle-flavored product you buy. If it says bits/brisures or extract of so-called ‘black truffle’ you could be getting an imported fake treated with aroma chemicals instead. It must indeed say ‘Tuber Melanasporum’ and Perigord if it is black truffles.

  

I can’t begin to tell you how rare these treasures are and how difficult it is to find them. And climate change is reducing the available quantities yearly.

Some of the displays were sooo tantalizing.

 

It was hard to know what to buy 

And what to choose…

My haul of truffle-flavored (all made with Tuber Melanasporum) olive oil, mustard and salt. I felt a bit nervous about buying an actual truffle 😬 They have a short shelf life unless you freeze paper-thin slices or know of other preservation tricks. The flavored salt will be for occasional  inhalation purposes only. Ah…the smell of it. Truffle-flavored brie made a terrific breakfast sandwich with a hint of the truffle mustard. 

Truffles are not a piece of cake to paint by any stretch of the imagination…hmmm

The way my coat and scarf smelled after the marché was incredible! Like a walking truffle.

Later I passed by Maison de la Truffe and le Grande Épicerie Petrossian Comptoir de Truffe to comparison shop their truffles. Their prices for fresh truffles were +600/700€ more than buying directly from the Périgord producteurs charging 1300€ a kilo.

I was quite tempted by the truffle cleaning brush at Maison de la Truffe and well within my budget. 

Look at this terrific gastronomic weekend truffle trip in Perigord. It looks good to me.

I came away from the Courbevoie marché, heavily and heavenly smelling of Perigord black truffles. I may go back today for another ‘dip into the truffle pool’. Yum Yum I hope you love truffles too or are ready to give them a try after today’s post. Do tell. Another Paris shop facade on Etsy. Bonne Sunday PBers❤️