ANCESTRAL TRADITIONS IN PÉRIGORD NOIR

After having climbed the village of Saint Cyprien which is

charming  with  its  small,  narrow and  ascending streets

composed of harmoniously flowery stone houses,I arrive

at the  domain of  Péchalifour located  a  few  kilometers

from the village where Edouard Aynaud receives me pro-

ducer of black  truffles."I am  retired  since  one year  but

passion is still there" he explains to me  while inviting me to follow  in the  neighboring  field  his house, his  offices

and its sales and presentation area where you can admire

sniff and also taste the black truffle that we also calls the

black gold of Périgord.Also accompanied by his adorable truffle dog Lino,  we survey  these  majestic  places when

the  long  awaited  moment  arrives  which is  that  of the

search for the truffle that the Lino dog does wonderfully

under the tender eye of his master.

 "Despite the years  and the  helping  experience, I am still

also  amazed  when my  dog  spotted  the   corresponding

place" he specifies to me with a smile of satisfaction when

his dog begins to scratch the  earth."In fact,  the search of

 truffles is a bit to a  treasure hunt  and  delicately get out

of earth a  beautiful  black truffle is  an endless   pleasure.

The truffle is a noble  product by  excellence  which requi-

res patience and  skill  because as you can  see under this tree whose  plantation dates  back to fifteen  years, its so-wing and parallel production of earthen  truffles does not

begin until this deadline to produce quality truffles ".

After the gentle  shores of  the banks  of  the Dordogne,  direction the village of  Tursac  located  further north along the valley of the Vézérein order to find Joel and Simon  Carboniere  at the barns  breeding farm of 27  hectares producing of

 foie  gras, terrines and  goose  confit. Before  surveying the  goose force-feeding  workshop  adapted for the production

of foie gras, my 2 guests guide me in the presentation of their farm and its adapted spaces which begins with one of the

adjoining meadows where the geese live before their treatments."We are  also the  keepers  of ancestral  traditions  well

preserved because our know-how is transmitted from generation to  generation " specifies to me  Joél Carbonière  while

accompanying me among the geese which move away and run during our  passage. "My installation  dates from 1983 at

the time in GAEC with my father Maurice then a farmer in Sergeac and we are producers of geese, breeders and feeders

in addition to the  harvest of  our cereals  and corn all our  geese reared  and force-fed which  are preserved  on  site and

sold exclusively in our shop or shipped by us via our online store in France and abroad.We enter the force-feeding  work-

shop while  walking in  the  central  alley which  separates  the spaces  adapted  for the  reception and  the  treatment of

geese."The geese are fed again manually and the force  feeding  period extends from  September to June for an  average

duration of 25 days during which the geese are fed with quality corn that we grow ourselves on our farm.

"We use traditional farm recipes  both for  the  production of foie gras as in the  composition of  Périgord patés, stuf-

fed geese necks and foie gras mousses.Another gastrono-

mic concerns the goose meat that we love treat and cook

with  skill,  especially in the  preparation of goose  confits

and ready-made meals of high quality, fine and  flavor are

recognized and  appreciated  by the  greatest chiefs  from

around the  world ".The  France  which has radiant territo-

ries with very often  surprises at  every step  incorporates

this particularity of maintain traditions handed down from

generation to generation that is always fascinating to dis-

cover and  which are  also the  living espression  of wealth

culture and gastronomy of our  beautiful  country and the men and women who compose it.

Report: GABRIEL PAGE

Photos Credit: GABRIEL PAGE / Getty Images

Photos 2015 and 2018