Yzeures-sur-Creuse, France

Today was dessert day.

We learned to make strawberry flavoured Swiss meringue for Saturday’s “dessert to impress”.

The major undertaking of the day was learning to make macarons. I initially confused this wonderful French confection of ganache filled almond meringue with the pasty, dry coconut macaroons of my youth. There is a fair amount of technical skill required to make, pipe and cook the meringue, make the filling and assemble these little bites of heaven. Alison walked us through the steps with ease!

Our afternoon was spent visiting a truffle farm. We drove to the farm of Jerome Lespagnol who lead us on a tour of Jose’s truffle farm nearby. In the movies, truffles are gathered while randomly wandering through the woods with a pig. The reality is somewhat different. The farm consisted of a series of specialized trees in a field surrounded by a fence to keep scavengers away and the truffles are hunted by a specially trained dog. Jerome took great delight in explaining the scientific background of truffle farming and the steps that are taken to maximize the output. It was amazing to see the black diamond truffle come out of the ground and experience the amazing odour that came from it. There was even a truffle smell in the soil where it was dug up.

After visiting the truffle processing building, we returned to Jerome’s where he showed us how saffron is created. We even got to see some of his saffron flowers in bloom

The day ended with the anticipation of tomorrow’s breakfast – Sidney sealed some truffle in a bowl of eggs for us to eat in the morning. Can’t wait!!!