Is it truffle season in France?

[pauliface]

Here in SF, the foodies are all abuzz because restauranteurs are heading to Italy to pick up truffles and bring them back to cook with in the next week or two.

I'll be in Paris next week, thursday through monday.
The reserved meals will be at L'Astrance, Lasserre, L'Auberge Bresson and (lunch at) L'Hotel.

Does anybody know if the Paris restaurants treat truffle week as a special event too?
SF does tend to latch onto trendy concepts sometimes, so I'm not sure whether this is a universal thing...

pauli.

[olivierb]

Never heard of a "truffle week" here. And anyway, it's white truffle season. High end restaurants currently have them on their menu.
You won't find black (as in tuber melanosporum) truffle at this time of year. If you do, it's either frozen (which is OK for some uses) or tasteless.

Optimal black truffle season would february-april. At this time of the year it's on the menu of many, many restaurants, not only high-end ones, but also good bistronomiques like l'Ami Jean, la Régalade, etc.

[pauliface]

There is no "truffle week" per se, it's just a phrase I used to describe the excitement crawling around here in SF.

And, yes, I should have mentioned specifically that it is the white Italian truffles that everybody seems to be talking about. I'm not talking about the black ones...

[sderham]

According to the Tourist Office of Carpentras, their truffle ( tuber melanosporum) season opens on Friday, November 20 this year. The truffle market in Richerenches opens the next day. I will be at one of them, or maybe both! But Mr Julien of the Beaugraviere tells me that you find the best truffles (and also cheaper) in January and February.

[souphie]

Like Olivier says: No truffle week here. It is white truffle season. Of the restaurants you selected, only Lasserre will have white truffle, maybe l'Hotel. White truffle is spectacularly expensive. For instance the roast chicken with white truffle at l'Ambroisie right now is 260€ (serves two, a bargain!). The poached egg with white truffle I can't remember, but I'm betting over 100 anyway.

Savoy, Le Cinq are also particularly good with white truffle.

[pauliface]

Yes, white and not black.

And, heavens, from what you describe, looks like the truffle dishes here are a relative bargain! To be honest, the best experience I've had with truffles was the night I bought a whole (black) truffle, then took it home, popped open a bottle of wine, and cooked it about 6 different ways. The winner was a truffle/butter/shallot sauce that I just dipped toast points into. Followed by an egg with truffles, followed by pasta with butter and truffles.

Again, Souphie, thank you for all your help in the past and in planning this trip. I've just gotten through reconfirming all my reservations and I'm very excited. :-)

[faijay]

I have had some wonderful dishes with white truffles at L'Enoteca in the 4th arr. It was in December. They have an incredible wine list and a very diverse group of patrons. Try to get a table upstairs.

[souphie]

Good Italians are good with white truffle indeed. Sormani should be added to this list, no matter how French the chef is.

[olivierb]

And by the way,would you happen to know where to buy white truffle in Paris? I mean, except at La Maison de la Truffe (haven't checked the shop this year, but I guess prices are still over the top).

[souphie]

Some options in rue Détou/rue Coquillière area. Other than that, the good Italian traiteurs -- e.g. Pasta della Casa on rue Lebon (on order). There's on rue Glacière, chich I haven't tried. I'm sure Desnoyer will happily have some.

[olivierb]

Rue Détou ? Google nor Michelin seem to have it in their databases... maybe you meant the area around G. Detout ? I fear Denoyer won't be cheaper than La Maison de la Truffe.

Oh and while we're at it, and even if we're beginning to derive from the original topic, what would be the "good Italian traiteurs"? I believe this has not been covered yet...

[Dodo]

Good Italian traiteurs? Hm... can't think of any right now, but still remember La Table d'Italie, Rue de Seine, exactly where Fish is located now!

Then, Italian restos and pizza places weren't all over and we often would go to La Table d'Italie just to have a plate of spaghetti and a glass to go with or to get some salami and cheese to go with our baguette.
I absolutely adored the place!

There is Da Rosa on Rue de Seine, but it's only partly Italian and it's more of a deli store. I like its upstairs room for a a glass of wine and some goodies.

[souphie]

There's no rue Détou and I meant Détout, not the street, the shop.

The Italian traiteur on rue Glacière (by the end, just before rue Tolbiac) also has a shop at the marché des Enfants-Rouges with nice white truffle. Price is still 4000€/kg (at both places).

And as I said, Pasta della Casa, on rue Lebon, is pretty nice.

[RandyB]

I walk by Enoteca every day but have never tried their white truffle dishes. They seemed too expensive for a little wine bar. Polenta appetizer for 29€; simple pasta for 49€. At the same time, I had to wonder whether you really got much truffle in a dish under 50€. Glad to hear you like them.

[souphie]

Truffle, and especially white truffle, is one of the few ingredients I'd much better have at a competent restaurant than buying by myself. As 10g of truffle costs 40€, prices for (good and generous) white truffle dishes are actually reasonable, and if the restaurant is competent, you eliminate the risk of buying a truffle that is not as good as you think or cooking it in a way that does not work.

[RandyB]

So assuming the polenta costs virtually nothing, and the markup over ingredient costs is 200%, I could expect 2.4g of white truffle in the 29€ entrée at Enoteca. I have no idea if that would pass your test of "good and generous," even assuming my calculations are close to correct. Which is probably a silly assumption, I have to admit.

[souphie]

No, no, you just made my point. I think there is probably closer to 5g of truffle in that dish (if the guys at l'Enoteca are not clowns, which I assume). Therefore, it's good value, and this is why I eat my white truffles in good restaurants.

[RandyB]

Ok, my last meal out before returning to Seattle is lunch Wednesday. I don't want to go far or worry about a reservation. l'Enoteca is less than a five minute walk,, so that's where I'll go. Thanks for the advice.

[RandyB]

Well, I got a reservation to the Renoir exhibit so I missed lunch today. But I did just go for an early dinner at l'Enoteca. I simply ordered two entrées. One with truffles, the other flavored with them.

The one with truffles was a ramekin of creamy polenta and parmesan, with shavings of white truffles on top. I have no way to judge how many grams, but I felt it was (indeed, Souphie) a generous portion. A lovely, simple dish. 29 €. My other appetizer was two very generous crottin-sized chèvres with jambon fumé, served hot, over a bed of endives. That was 12€, a normal price for an entrée in a restaurant like this. Very filling. I definitely did not need a plat. I might note that the Belgian man sitting at the next table was ecstatic over his whole fish.

[carlux]

Since the original poster actually asked about truffle season in France, not just in Paris, I thought I'd mention that in the Perigord, Sarlat has its Fete De La Truffe 16th and 17th January 2010 (and has the truffle market from 2 December to 17 March.)

At the fete, there are visits of the old town, demonstrations of preparing/cooking truffles, and a 'diner gastronomique.'

http://www.truffe-sarlat-perigord.com/

[carlux]

Now selling in Sarlat for 400-500 Euros the kilo.

[pauliface]

BTW I feel I should mention:
While the restaurants did not trumpet their truffles, both L'Astrance and Lasserre had fantastic truffle dishes.
Lasserre in particular, had a wonderful ravioli dish with slices of truffle on top that was absolutely stellar.

Both restaurants deserve their Michelin Stars, IMO.

[souphie]

I think Lasserre just changed chef, so that's something we want to watch. We need volunteers to eat at Lasserre. Tough.