Maine food writer lured to France, now Eugene by truffles and Pinot

By Janet Eastman

Author Michael S. Sanders often writes about tradition and the long-held notion that when a community gathers to eat together, it shares more than local ingredients.

Sanders spent a year in southwest France to study the way in which its culture is expressed through dishes of goat cheese, onion tarts, duck pie, lamb stew, sugar-covered beignets, bread and wine.

Now he is heading to Eugene for the first time to speak at the Oregon Truffle Festival, which starts this Friday. That night, he’ll be introduced to hundreds of festival participants at a pre-dinner reception. He’ll be giving the opening address, reading from his books and remarking about the power of food and wine:

All the people participated, contributing their own labor, but also the produce from their fields, the meat from their animals, the wine from their cellars to make the meal.

These words, from the Introduction of Sanders’ 2002 book "From Here, You Can't See Paris: Seasons of a French Village and Its Restaurant,” starts to describe the 159 people who remain in the declining Medieval village of Les Arques. Their population is dwindling, but they clutch their treasures of cultural heritage and good eating (la bonne chère). It’s a community that has an annual Mushroom Fair and three day of communal eating to honor its patron Saint. Farmers, forgers and home cooks have at their fingertips saffron, foie gras and black truffles.

Sanders writes that the “meanest pigeon coop appears older than any building in the New World.” There’s a church, a museum and one commercial establishment, La Récréation restaurant, run by Jacques Ratier and his wife Noelle.

At the Eugene festival, Sanders will see Jacques for the first time in three years. On Friday night, Jacques will prepare a special dinner in a way that Sanders predicts "hasn’t been seen in America for a long time."

Sanders will also be reuniting with French scientist and cultivator Dr. Pierre Sourzat, with whom he shared a "fabulous truffle market experience" in Lalbenque, in the southwestern French departement of the Lot. "I’m just so happy that all these people from my past will be there to experience something new," says Sanders. [Read more about the food and wine at the Festival here.]

Sanders hasn’t decided if he’ll take a cooking class or follow dogs on a truffle hunt. “I’ve hunted with dogs in France three times and it’s fascinating to watch them work,” says Sanders. “You’re in a group with serious scientists who are talking about something else, but when a dog stops, sniffs and points, everyone pays attention.”

What is Sanders anticipating when he arrives here?

“This will be my first American Truffle Festival,” says Sanders, who lives in Maine with his wife and daughter. “It’s pretty cool. In this country, we are fortunate to have several types of truffles that are accessible in price and interesting in terms of taste. People are curious about Oregon truffles. And I think Oregon is another one of those edge states where people are tuned in food wise.”

He says he’s enjoyed some great Oregon Pinot Noir, but he’s never tasted or even seen an Oregon truffle. “Every part of the country keeps its best stuff to itself,” he says.

Sanders is taking a break from finishing a cookbook titled “Fresh From Maine” about the lives and recipes of 23 chefs who work with organic farmers. “All the chefs are different, but because they’re keeping things local, they’re beginning to see themselves as a community.”

That seems to happen wherever Sanders goes.

For more info: Tickets are still available for some experiences and dinners at the Oregon Truffle Festival. The festival takes place January 29–31 and is centered in and around the Valley River Inn, 1000 Valley River Way, Eugene, Oregon, (503) 296-5929, www.oregontrufflefestival.com.