A kilo of truffles will sell for between 800 and 1,000 euros this weekend in Nîmes

The black truffle harvest was good this year in the Gard. Midi Libre – MIKAËL ANISSET

The Truffle Festival will take place on the Place du Marché from Friday, January 31 to Sunday, February 2.

For several years, the Truffle Festival, organized by the City of Nîmes, has found its audience of connoisseurs and gourmets on the Place du Marché thanks to the presence of four truffle growers from the Gard, from Uzès and Sommières to be precise. They will sell fresh produce, the fruit of their harvest.

The president of the department's truffle producers' union, Louis Teulle, is keen on it, as he hunts for those that come from Spain and China. In Nîmes, the quality of the black truffle, tuber melanosporum, will satisfy consumers. “We had a good year, not exceptional certainly, but much better than the two previous ones. The conditions were ideal, much better than last year with little frost, no leiodes (beetles causing damage to truffles, Editor's note), a dry summer where we couldn't water. September was hot and dry. Two years ago, that month, we even had up to 40 degrees and 28°C 20 centimeters into the ground!”

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Good water supply

Louis Teulle indicates that the wet spring, the summer that benefited from good water supplies, a September without heatwaves, were more than useful. “We harvested black truffles in good quantity and quality. We even found some in the wild, which had not been seen for many years. Generally, and this will not please the winegrowers, a good year for truffle growers is when there is mildew”, confides Louis Teulle mischievously.

This satisfactory harvest causes a change in prices, which will allow a kilo of truffles to be found at the Fête de Nîmes between €800 and €1,000 per kilo instead of €1,200 last year. For the Nîmes market, in three days, between 15 and 20 kg of truffles should be sold, far from the figures of the very popular meeting in Uzès (103 kg!). The reference.

Three festive days on the terroir

From Friday January 31 to Sunday February 2, the Place du Marché will serve as a setting for truffle growers, with four producers from Gard, sales of local products, regional specialties, not to mention the truffle hunting demonstration, musical entertainment with the Tambourinaïres brass band. A dozen restaurants in Nîmes also offer black truffles on their menu. Open Friday and Saturday from 9am to 7pm and Sunday from 9am to 2pm. Free.