The truffle grows in the heart of the lands of Bos.

There are more than just wheat fields in the heart of Bos. In recent years, there have also been… truffles, the famous Tuber melanosporum. “The idea was born out of a desire to diversify cultures, but also to have fun and work in new ways,” explains Laurent Gasnier, a grain farmer in Epid-en-Bose.

In 2007, he planted one hectare of truffle oaks on his farm, and since December 2013 he has spent the winters picking and selling his truffles. Last Saturday, he was one of 13 growers present at the second truffle market organized in Orléans, an event that attracted around 650 curious people.

14 kg of the precious “black diamond” were put up for sale on the shelves at prices ranging from 850 to 1,000 euros per kilogram, a price justified by the poor harvest, but still lower than at Christmas, when it reached 1,800 euros in Paris.

The hotel school prepared tastings

“We were hoping for a good season, but in December we were hit by frost. And since then it has become too warm and it has been raining, which is also not good. Fortunately, we still managed to find something that would satisfy the buyers,” sums up Marie-Christine Ligui, a farmer from Sougia and president of the Beauce-Val de Loire truffle association, which has 39 members.

Even if the truffle is expensive, lovers have not given up on pleasure. By morning, there was almost nothing left on the shelves. “We are going to taste, we took three small ones, about 40 g, and we will cook them in the form of scrambled eggs, as we were advised,” explains an elderly couple from Orleans.

For those who didn’t want to cook, it was also possible to eat on site at a very low price, thanks to the students of the hotel school in Orléans who prepared 1.5 kg of truffles donated by the association. Their appetizers were a big hit and again, there was nothing left!