Lalbenque
Lalbenque, capital of the black truffle, is endowed with a truffles market every Tuesday from December till March. This very mediatized market knew how to acquire over the years a strong fame. This official market was created in 1961 by the quite new labour union of truffle producers.
A crowd of fans and amateurs so gathers every Tuesday of this period. We attend a real show. In the whistle, the potential buyers rush towards baskets so desired, often negotiated before the official opening. Every seller proposes a price to the buyer who is most of the time a professional for the wholesale market on benches. Once all right on the price, they are going to check the weight and to settle the transaction. Within 40 min the sale of truffles is ended.
The Tuber melanosporum which we find mainly in the country of Lalbenque, is unmistakably the most desired with its exceptional aroma. The truffle is a mushroom stemming from the subterranean fruiting of a mycelium which lives in association with the truffle tree at the level of its roots. Every year, this market sells more than a ton of truffle. The cost of a quality truffle on the market depends on its size, on its species and on its quality. The truffle is sold near 600€/kg on the wholesale market and pass easily to 900€/kg in the retail sale.
The most famous and the most authentic market
is well and truly the market in the truffles
of Lalbenque at the heart of Quercy
Technical animations are also proposed and organized all year round: visits of truffle farms, watching trips of the heritage and the landscapes, meetings and the professional and consumer information, the demonstrations of digging (search for the truffle), tourist and promotional animations (truffle days, thematic walks, cooking courses, stays on the theme of the truffle and the truffle heritage)...
Pdf with all the activities of the truffle at Lalbenque
For the lovers of stones and beautiful landscapes, the typical housing environment in Quercy will not leave unmoved you with its houses containing "bolet" with stone colonnades.
The small rural heritage is of an exceptional wealth.
It participates in the beauty of the landscapes with low walls and "cazelles" (cabins) of dry stones, dovecotes and windmills. Wells, fountains, ancient washing-places, tanks were precious elements of the rural heritage conceived and maintained by the villagers and the farmers. These are kept and emphasized in numerous villages for most great pleasure of the inhabitants and the tourists of passage.
The monumental heritage of Lalbenque is rich: church Saint-Quirin (registered on the inventory of Historic monuments) and its magnificent altarpiece, church of Saint-Hilaire, chapels of Pailllas and Balach. Several dolmens indicate that the country was inhabited from the prehistory.
Several hiking trails cross its territory.
Market day:
Lalbenque: on Saturday morning all year long
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Many more products characterize this territory, of Lalbenque and its surroundings: the lamb farmer of the Quercy, the milk calf, the saffron of Quercy, the melon of Quercy, the fat duck, the walnut, the Croustilot (farmhouse bread with a crust thick and very crunchy), the cheese of Rocamadour, the pastis (dessert lotois), the home-made beer Ratz... so many specialities which make the gastronomic wealth of this territory.
