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Aquitaine
Beneath the oaks, holm oaks and chestnut trees of the Médoc peninsula, a mushroom emerges from the soil every autumn — and the best spots to find it are spoken of only in whispers.
Vegetable from Aquitaine.
Between vineyards and the ocean, the Pointe du Médoc — this tongue of Gironde land stretching from Soulac-sur-Mer towards the estuary — is described by those who champion it as a "triangle of land blessed by the gods", where man produces some of the world's most renowned wines, and which is also the cradle of one of the most coveted mushrooms: the bolete, better known as the cèpe de Bordeaux. The soil and climate of the Médoc give it a particularly sought-after aroma and flavour.
The Confrérie Gastronomique du Cèpe de la Pointe du Médoc was founded on 19 April 2002 by Claude Caralp, who became its Grand Maître Fondateur — he led it until his death in May 2014. Registered as a 1901-law association, it brings together a team of volunteers determined to promote this mushroom on every occasion and to raise the profile of Soulac-sur-Mer, the seaside resort from which it hails. Each year, its chapter brings together several dozen guest brotherhoods: in 2012, 74 brotherhoods and around 300 guests gathered for a banquet requiring roughly a hundred kilograms of cèpes, gathered by foragers paid for the occasion.
Seasoned foragers in the Médoc claim to be able to distinguish subtleties in a cèpe's colour and aroma depending on whether it grew beneath an oak, a holm oak or a chestnut tree — and some even claim to recognise, in a blind tasting, whether a cèpe hails from Jau, Queyrac or Saint-Vivien, three neighbouring communes of the Pointe du Médoc. This same acuity is said to make it possible to tell a cèpe de Bordeaux apart from a cèpe from Corrèze or the Dordogne. The 1999 storm permanently reshuffled the region's best foraging spots, a reminder that the resource remains unpredictable from one year to the next.
Appearance
the colour of the cap varies depending on the tree beneath which the cèpe grew — oak, holm oak or chestnut tree.
Aroma
an aroma that Médoc foragers learn to distinguish according to the gathering terroir, and which the soil and climate of the Médoc make particularly sought-after.
Taste
a renowned flavour, expressing itself differently depending on whether the mushroom is picked young ("en bouchon") or older.
Texture
a wide range of textures depending on the age at which it is picked, from the firm young bouchon to the mature cèpe.
foraging takes place early, at the crack of dawn on an autumn Sunday, to be the first to reach the best spots.
the best cèpe spots are jealously guarded from one family to the next; one does not ask a Médoc local for them.
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The simplest recipe remains the one most frequently cited by connoisseurs of the Pointe du Médoc: pan-fried with garlic and parsley, lifted by a touch of lightly salted pork belly to heighten the flavour, and a little pepper. It is also the dish that traditionally accompanies Sunday lunch for Médoc families upon returning from foraging, in the form of a poêlée of cèpes à la persillade.
No official quality sign (PDO (AOP), PGI (IGP), Label Rouge) protects this cèpe. Its local renown is championed by a gastronomic brotherhood, the Confrérie Gastronomique du Cèpe de la Pointe du Médoc, founded in 2002 in Soulac-sur-Mer, which organises an annual chapter bringing together several dozen guest brotherhoods.
Brotherhood
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