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Truffle season
Eggs and truffle purée by Chef Jean-Michel Belin of Le Beauvallon Hotel in Provence
by Justine Puaud
January 18, 2023
We are in the middle of the truffle season. The famous truffle market is in Richerenches in France and is open from November to March every year. If you plan to visit the Provence region around this time of year, you have to make a stop there. It is not like a traditional farmer market. You enter a quiet street where there are a dozen mini vans and people will be selling truffles from the back of their cars…
The tuber melanosporum, also called black truffle, is quite strong on the palate. I tried many recipes with truffles and I think overall the simplest recipes are the best (omelette with truffle, pasta with truffle, French coquilles Saint-Jacques carpaccio) But, I have to say, the soft boiled egg with a truffle purée is among my favorites. The mix between truffle, béchamel sauce and madeira makes this recipe just delicious and really enhances the truffle.
Ingredients
12 fresh eggs
120g fresh truffle
30g béchamel sauce (if you don’t know how to make a béchamel, check out this recipe)
40 cl heavy cream
120g of butter
25 cl of madeira
25cl of truffle juice (buy a can of truffle juice from Plantin)
6 slices of bread (ie traditional baguette)
salt and pepper
Instructions
Sauce
Put the eggs and truffles in an airtight container in the refrigerator the night before.
Put the eggs in the blender to obtain a very fine purée or cut the truffle into very small pieces.
Make a béchamel.
Then, in the saucepan, reduce the Madeira and truffle juice to dryness, add the cream and the béchamel. Leave to cook for a few minutes, stirring.
Add the truffle purée and the béchamel to the Madeira and truffle juice and leave over low heat for 3 minutes.
Cook the eggs for 3 minutes in salted boiling water. Remove the egg from the shell, then using a teaspoon, remove the little white that is not cooked.
In a frying pan, brown the slices of bread with a little butter, then cut them into "mouillettes" and keep them warm.
It's almost ready to eat. Fill the egg cavity with the truffle purée, dip the bread in the egg with the sauce and enjoy.