Foire aux Champignons - November 13/14 in St. Bonnet le Froid, France

That would be the annual mushroom fair.

St. Bonnet le Froid is a tiny village at the center of French mushroom country, set on a plateau over 3,000 feet above the Rhone valley.

Every year on the weekend following All Saints Day (the second weekend in November) it gives itself over to a single-minded mushroom feast.

The festival began sometime during the 19th century, but only took off in 1995 when Regis Marcon, chef-patron of the celebrated Auberge et Clos des Cimes in St. Bonnet, took charge of it.

The main street of St. Bonnet is closed to traffic for the weekend of the festival, instead being lined with stalls and stands.

On sale are sacks of walnuts and chestnuts, stacks of cheeses from neighboring Auverne, Atlantic oysters, braids of garlic and strings of sausages.

However, the chief function of the market is the sale of fresh and dried mushrooms.

It starts at 6:30 Saturday morning when trucks of all sizes take up positions on the square by the church and set out their mushrooms.

Chef Marcon joins forces with André Chatelard and Thierry Guyot, two other village chefs, to offer demonstrations of mushroom dishes.

In the tent next door, a competition for best tarte aux champignons takes place.

The highlight for most attendees, however, is the midday menu champignons, whose composition varies from year to year but whose central element is mushrooms.

Between 600 and 700 lunches are served in three shifts between 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m, prepared by the three chefs.

Last year's menu began with a terrine of foie gras layered with potatoes and cepes with a handful of tiny autumn salad leaves, moved on to guinea fowl with a mushroom stuffing and spelt risotto, then concluded with selected cheeses from the region and a rich ice cream made of goats' milk served with a steamed chestnut sponge cake and a trickle of honey.

Most people present return every year from various parts of France.

For those who really want to experience the terroir, mycologist Gilles Boucheron is available for mushroom hunting excursions.

Simply ask for him at any local hotel.

[via Sue Style in The Financial Times]