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BARGING THROUGH FRANCE PT 20 - WINTER FRUITS

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• published: 12 Jul 2011
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Richard Goodwin continues his adventure across France and continues his diary: This episode is about the winter harvests of France. Olive trees grow best between 300 and 600 metres over sea level and there is no truth in the rumour that they are immortal. Actually they are very fragile and don't like the extreme cold and rain. The olive harvest starts on November 25 and finishes at the end of January. My first big surprise was that if you pick an olive and pop it in your mouth, it is quite disgusting. A delicious olive has been through a good deal of preparation and the methods are clearly explained. Making olive oil is quite different and we see how it is done in the old fashioned way with huge milling stones. Olive oil is one of the few products that is ready immediately. All you have to do is to take your olives to the mill and at the end of the process you have a bottle or two of delicious olive. There is a lady who says that it is a really good medicine and you should drink a small glass of oil every morning. But then she sells the stuff! We see how they used to make scrotins which can be loosely described like a tam o'shanter hat that the Scots would wear years ago. The olives would be pushed into the rim of the hat then the whole thing would be put into the press. The oil would ooze out of the scrotin under the pressure of the press. Nowadays they use a plastic substitute and the old factory makes doormats. In the village of Coucoran, I went to see the repairs to the tower of the 13th. century church. I asked what the cement was and he told me it was the recipe that that the Romans had used, one part lime and three parts sand. This was the binder that was used until the British produced Portland cement. The ball on the top of the tower has been pierced by hunters' bullets needs a lot of repairs. They use it for target practice. This is the country of the black diamond as the truffle is called around here. They used to get pigs to sniff out where the truffles lie but they often become too greedy and eat them before the truffle seekers can get to them. Now the truffle hunters used dogs which they train from when they are baby puppies by wiping the mother's tits with truffle oil. The puppies then really remember this small and all its connotations. This truffle farmer is a very knowledgeable and explains all you need to know about truffles. Then I go to Riveranche market which is biggest market in France for truffles. This quite fascinating and well worth watching and afterwards there is a religious service where truffles are donated to the priest for his yearly salary. As soon as the service is over the truffles are auctioned for a princely sum to the crowd. This year the priest gained a decent year's money. I finish up in Carpenteras truffle market which has different rules and at the end I am served with a delicious meal of scallops and truffles. The chef at Serge's restaurant explains how to make this really delicious dish in detail.