Title: American homes and gardens
Identifier: americanhomesgar00newy (find matches)
Year: 1905 (1900s)
Authors:
Subjects: Architecture, Domestic; Landscape gardening
Publisher: New York, Munn and Co
Contributing Library: The LuEsther T Mertz Library, the New York Botanical Garden
Digitizing Sponsor: BHL-SIL-FEDLINK

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
38 AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS January, 1906 Alpes), Brive (Correze) and a few others of minor im- portance. For the four departments which produce the largest crops of truffles the figures for 1899 are: Lot, 152 tons; Van- cluse, 150 tons; Drome, 135 tons; Dordogne, 90 tons. The price fluctuates from 7 to 25 francs a kilogram (65 cents to $2.25 a pound), sometimes reaching 30 francs a kilo- gram ($2.75 a pound) in very dry seasons. But let us leave the statistical and turn to the picturesque aspect of the truffle market, imagining ourselves transported to Martel on a Wednesday or Saturday in December. The truffles are not displayed in the market place, but are hidden as if they were contraband goods. The "leveur" de- posits his carefully packed baskets in rooms put gratuitously at his disposal by the proprietor of a hotel or cafe, and then sallies forth to meet the buyers, who are distinguished by their more careful attire and by their purses attached to shoulder belts. Telegrams announcing the condition of the market at
Text Appearing After Image:
Cooking the Filled Jars and Boxes other places begin to arrive at 2 o'clock, but at Marte there is little activity till after 4 o'clock. Then the cafes light up and the baskets of truffles are unpacked on billiard tables and other tables incumbered with beer and absinthe glasses. The buyers examine the truffles, test their weight and con- verse in low tones with the sellers. But the pitch of voices soon arises, shouts are heard, and, amid wild excitement, the truffles are bought and sold in lots or by the kilogram. Then comes a period of calm as the final weighings are made. The truffles are delivered in rectangular willow "cham- pagne" baskets of various sizes, lined with straw paper to prevent contact of the truffles with the basket, which would impair their flavor. These baskets, packed, corded and sealed under the supervision of the buyers, are then sent tothe station, to be picked up by the 8 o'clock train and forwarded to Cahors, Paris, Carpentras, Sarlat, Perigueux or Souillac. Meanwhile payments are made and buyers and sellers sit at tables and refresh themselves. At 1 1 o'clock the little town has resumed its usual calm and tranquil aspect. Arrived at their destination, the baskets are emptied.on long tables and sorted into three grades, according to size. Sometimes, however, the classification is not altogether by size, as the value of a truffle depends to a great extent on its uniform roundness and its texture and ripeness. In addition to the truffles which are consumed in the fresh state a great many go to the canneries and pate de foies gras factories. The following description applies to the La Forest establishment at Perigueux, where the various photographs were taken. One of these shows a number of women washing and cleaning truffles. Before each woman stands a tub in which truffles are soaking in water. The tubers are taken out one by one, carefully washed to remove every particle of earthly matter, and passed to the women on the opposite side of the long table, who remove part of the skin. The parings are not thrown away, but are utilized in various ways. Then the washed and peeled truffles are carried by boys to the left hand table, where other women pack them in bottles and tin boxes. The boxes, bottles and jars, whether filled with truffles, foie gras or alternate layers of the two, are next cooked in an oven and hermetically sealed, by soldering or otherwise. Then they go to the "autoclaves," or sterilizers, of which three are shown in one of the illustrations. From the first the sterilized jars, con- tained in a perforated cyl- inder, are being removed with the aid of a traveling crane. A woman is filling the cylinder of the second with filled and sealed jars, while in the third "auto- clave," in the background, the sterilizing process is going on under the fore- man's supervision. The time of starting each ap- paratus is marked on a blackboard. The sterilizing process is as delicate as it is important. The pressure (which con- trols the temperature) of each apparatus is indicated by a manometer and must be kept constant throughout the operation. After being sterilized the jars and boxes of truffles go to another room to be washed, labeled and packed for shipment. This is not the place for an account of the culinary uses of the truffle. Whether served alone "a la Perigueux," or "a la Provencale," or employed to flavor chickens and turkeys, it is a delicacy highly appreciated by the gourmets of the whole world. Good resolutions for the house are always in order. The first of January is a no more convenient season for such agreeable resolutions than any other. The house year, in fact, scarcely begins with the first of January, but seems to be more properly started with the spring housecleaning, which is still several months away. Then, if ever, is the time for good resolutions, resolutions that sometimes need to be kept within reasonable bounds; for the number and variety of things to be done in a house, the number of betterments which may be introduced, the number of changes which seem desirable to make, often surpass belief.

Note About Images