Aups and a Black Truffle Feast

The ‘Black Diamond’ or Tuber Melanosporum is synonymous with French haute-cuisine. Each year, our neighbouring village Aups hosts a black truffle festival on the fourth Sunday of January. We hope you’ll enjoy the delicious recipe for Brouillarde aux Truffe below.

DID YOU KNOW? An incredible 45% of the world’s black truffles are produced in the South of France. The truffle season in Provence runs from November to March, and some years about fifty tonnes of black truffles are obtained!

The whole village embraces the ‘Fete de la Truffe Noire d’Aups’ and you can smell these black fungi from the car park – the festival includes a market where local stallholders sell truffles for around €90 per 100g(!), as well as other Provencal delights, cheeses, tapenades, olive oils. 

Every restaurant, bar, hotel and shop get into the truffle spirit from take-away stands selling truffle hot dogs, truffle crisps and truffle sandwiches to fine-dining truffle tasting menus.

TIP: if you’re visiting Aups, do include a visit to the Maison de la Truffe d’Aups (lovely immersive experience – understanding French helps).

Brouillade aux truffes

Hope you enjoy this yummy recipe that our Sophie has fine-tuned if you’re able to get your hands on some gorgeous truffles. It doesn’t require many ingredients, and uses the traditional bain-marie method that makes the scrambled eggs super creamy and fluffy!

Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 4 whole organic eggs + 2 yolks
  • 1 tbsp of water
  • 30 to 40g black truffle (1 small truffle)
  • 20g unsalted butter
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Fresh baguette or toasted sourdough to serve

Method

  1. Place the truffle in the egg carton in the fridge 24h before cooking so the aromas can infuse the eggs
  2. Prepare a bain-marie. Place the eggs and yolks in it, as well as the butter and the tablespoon of water
  3. Gently whisk the eggs over low heat. Once they just start to set, use a microplane or cheese grater to grate about half of the truffle in the mixture. Continue whisking gently until the eggs reach the desired texture (we recommend keeping them very soft)
  4. Divide in two plates, season with sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
  5. With a truffle slicer or a mandolin, slice the rest of the truffle thinly on top of the eggs on each plate
  6. Enjoy with a fresh baguette or toasted sourdough!

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