
So when I heard about a truffle hunting tour at Les Pastras in Cadenet, about 30km north of Aix en Provence, which is operated by a Franco-American couple, I thought, okay, this time let’s do it. So husband and dog in tow, we jumped on the A8 to Aix and then headed north on the A51 to exit 15.

Our visit to the Cadenet was no exception. Driving up the narrow road leading to Les Pastras, an 11-hectare organic farm with “the house with the red shutters” (pictured above), we were warmly greeted by Lisa and Johann Pepin (pictured left). Johann and Lisa met in Wisconsin in 1997 before moving to Chicago and getting married in 2002. I’m leaving out a few minor details along the way but in 2003 they decided to trade the American world of finance and PR to go green in the Luberon. Johann is no stranger to the region. He spent his childhood here, as this was his grandfather’s home. Lisa on the other hand was seen as a foreigner and shares the story of how there were bets at the local bar to see how long “the American” would last. “I’m still here,” she says smiles. But there’s no smugness in her statement; she loves her life in France and her happiness is apparent.

It’s a lot of manual labour. As an example, take their 320 olive trees (pictured right). Since the freeze of 1956 when sap froze so quickly that trees exploded destroying two-thirds of the olive trees in Provence, there are no laws forbidding you to re-root olive trees growing in the forests. For Lisa and Johann, rather than ordering a bunch of saplings from, say, the English Garden Group, they have themselves trekked into the woods and dug up the olive trees with their 30 to 40 kilos roots, and transported them back to Les Pastras where they then have re-planted all 320 of them with their own hands. And this is just one part of their harvest.

The Tour:
Visit a Provençal truffle plantation, discover how truffles are cultivated and how truffle dogs are trained. For fun, go on a hunt for France's elusive "black gold" with professional hunters who know all the tricks of the trade. Develop a truffle eye: spot the difference between a Provençal tuber melanosporum and its inferior Chinese and Italian counterparts.
The Menu:

I didn’t know that it takes 30 grams of truffles to make one litre of truffle oil. At Les Pastras, they sell organic olive oil and the most heavenly organic truffle oil, which they can ship to the US (and elsewhere). Fifty percent of every bottle of olive oil sold goes to OneFamily, an orphanage in Haiti that Lisa and Johann have a personal connection to.
Les Pastras is everything we associate with the French – olives and oils, truffles and wine – but in English. For me, the opportunity to experience first hand another person’s slice of France and all the insightful storytelling that goes along with it, is worth the drive to Cadenet.
About a five minute drive from Cadenet is the tiny village of Cucuron, recognised for a scene in "A Good Year", when Russell Crowe and Marion Cotillard kissed in the rain at the end of their date. As if part of a movie scene the unassuming restaurant La Petite Maison de Cucuron is stage left. Chef Eric Sapet is a star. I realise a star from me doesn’t have the same weight as that from Michelin or Hollywood, but Sapet has found his biggest fans some 250km away from his kitchen. La Petite Maison represents everything foreigners romanticise about a medieval village restaurant in the heart of the Luberon: glorious traditional French dishes paraded to your white linen clothed table over the course of hours. Food so luscious you don’t want to finish it because you can never taste the exact combination of deliciousness again, even if you ordered the same meal the next day. I would not be lying in saying my contact lens popped out of my eye when I tasted my entrée – that’s the power of Sapet’s €46 menu:
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Johann and Lisa Pepin at Les Pastras and the dog-friendly La Petite Maison de Cucuron provide a perfect change of scenery from the Riviera Coast, at only a two and half hour drive it's a day away you won't soon forget. Isn’t it time to get out of your comfort zone?
Les Pastras
http://www.lespastras.com
Johann & Lisa Pepin
Tel: 06 26 05 30 49
Twitter: @LesPastras
Facebook: www.facebook.com/LesPastras
La Petite Maison de Cucuron
http://www.lapetitemaisondecucuron.com
Place de l'Etang
84160 Cucoron
Tel: 04 90 68 21 99
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Ask about their weekly cooking courses.