Black Truffle Monday

I'm so exhausted and I have to be up again in less than six hours. But I'm so relieved - I just can't tell you right now how relieved. After all the stomach-churning uncertainity of the past year, I feel like I'm finally home again - and with old friends from Ducasse to boot. One of the best moments of the day was after doing some herb salad prep - I will describe the excruciating details of a gastronomic herb salad another time - I was handed two shoebox-sized wooden boxes full of overwhelmingly fragrant black truffles. Just like that - here you go - here's a few thousand euros worth of black truffles. I peeled them with my trusty peeler - and then got into the little nooks and crannies with my paring knife - careful never to take too much off nor dig too deep into the crevices which would risk the billiard-ball-sized beauties to break apart. And of course a chef needs to taste the product - I will surely sample more black truffles this season than I've ever had in my life cumulatively before. I must sleep now - I'm crashing after my first day - I so tired that I feel the shadow of a toque on my head. More tomorrow.