In September, the teams at Maison Truffes Henras begin to prepare for the melanosporum season, which generally begins the last weekend of November (depending on the maturity of the truffles). The manager then traveled through France, but also Spain to meet the House's truffle growers and partner producers.
TOUR OF THE TRUFFLE DOMAINS
The "tour" of the best truffle estates allows him to make an inventory of the truffle fields . It is a question of the evolution of historical plots, the discovery of new plots which will give, the follow-up of the work of the producers, new plantation projects, first glimpses of the evolution of the truffettes in the making, but above all to listen feedback and feelings from truffle growers on the future harvest.
"The truffle is a profession of humility, listening is essential..."
DROUGHT, A CURRENT PROBLEM
The drought that hit this summer worries producers who, for many of them, cannot irrigate their plots. To develop, the Périgord black truffle would require rainfall between 50 and 100 mm in July and 60 and 80 mm in August. But that's not all. We know that the way the soil evacuates this water is essential, which is why truffle growing requires draining soil.
The problems posed by the drought , or in certain areas, by too strong storms in September and October, are real and the truffle growers , despite their inventiveness and their work, suffer from these hazards. Thus, if in certain regions, the truffle growers say that they will not miss Tuber melanosporum , they recognize that it risks being smaller than in other years.
In other areas, less exposed to these hazards, the truffle will be there, but the very mild weather may give wormy early fruits.
LA MAISON HENRAS, AN ANCESTRAL KNOW-HOW
The know-how of the Maison Truffes Henras will then be able to express itself fully: Look for the best truffles, each week, on the best plots and select only what we deem worthy of our customers.
The work of cleaning and canifage will allow us to eliminate what is damaged. The canning activity will give new life to these leftovers: at the start of the season, made up of damaged or immature truffles , they will be transformed into canned broken truffles every week.
Until mid-January, it is not uncommon for the House to sell only 30% of the lots bought in “earth” fresh truffles . We then understand the interest of varying the purchasing areas to allow quality to be maintained from the beginning to the end of the season.
After more than a month of walking in the truffle fields of France and Navarre, Maison Henras is ready to start this new season alongside its truffle growing partners , to the delight of gourmets!