The Fete De La Truffe, Sarlat, Dordogne, January 2011

In January 2011 we ran a special Truffle Tour weekend to coincide with the Fete de la Truffe in Sarlat-la-Caneda.

(See more images on the Chain Gang Flickr site here)

The food was delicious, as you’d expect, and there was a fantastic buzz in the town square around the truffle market and the lunch time truffle hors d’oeuvre. But the highlight, undoubtedly, was hunting for truffles with Edouard and his lovely truffle hound, Titeuf.

1. Five elite truffle hunters

In fact, Titeuf has a bit of competition these days in the shape of Farrah (named after Farrah Fawcett-Major, if you can you believe that, in this remote corner of rural France. I’m sure the Academie Francaise would be indignant if they thought that even truffle hunting had been infected with US TV culture!)

2. Gilles with Titeuf and Farrah

In December, Farrah was a bit of a liability. This is her first truffle season, so although she had been well trained to smell truffles, as soon as she got a whiff she tended to go a bit crazy. On one occasion she scratched a truffle to bits in her excitement to dig it up. Just 4 weeks later she was fantastic – focused and well-behaved. A worthy companion and successor to the noble Titeuf.

3. Cherche, Titeuf, cherche!

I won’t give a blow-by-blow account of our weekend, but I will share some photographs of us engaging in all things truffle – cooking, eating, buying, and above all hunting. There is a larger gallery of our whole weekend, with better quality photographs, on the Chain Gang’s Flickr site.

4. Titeuf on the job.

5. Eduoard finds a truffle.

6. Mmmm, Eduoard indulges himself.