We’ve had a bountiful harvest at Bonhur this year of all sorts of produce. We stopped counting when we got to 50 kg of prunes (plums), a dozen pêches (peaches) off our newly planted tree; over 100 kg of apples, 8kg of châtaignier (chestnuts), 60 figues (figs) and two large boxes of noix (walnuts). There were also lots of hazelnuts but it’s taken us four years to find out that we had a tree and what they were!
The cépes are the latest bounty. There are plenty of woodland walks all across the Perigord - the pilgrimage route of Santiago de Compostela goes directly past the gîte if you fancied a long walk! This year once word got out that the cèpe had arrived people could be spied making many discreet trips into their local woods to find the elusive fungi. It isn’t quite on the level of a top secret military operation but it’s close. Locals will have their own hunting ground and there is quite a competition among the neighbours to see who has collected what. But one thing they won’t tell you is where - don’t even bother to ask as refusal to tell often offends.
Cèpes sell for up to 25 € a kilo so you can appreciate why children set up little market stalls at the side of the road to earn some pocket money, and why people keep their foraging grounds secret.
We’ve been out in our local woodland hunting for cèpes before and came up empty handed, so foraging for cèpes is definitely not a sure thing. But with the hot summer and the wet September this year (of which our newly planted grass is also testament) conditions have been ideal and cèpe hunters have been out in force across France. We’re very much looking forward to a nice omelette, pasta, risotto, aperitif toasts ……...
