🌍 Périgord, France
🕰️ Known since antiquity
Dates clés
1st century AD
Roman gourmets prize truffles; Apicius includes them in recipes
1533
Catherine de Medici brings Italian truffle cultivation knowledge to France
1780
First recorded organized truffle markets in Périgord
1810
Périgord truffle production peaks at over 1,000 tonnes per year
1892
Joseph Talon develops first truffle inoculation of oak trees
Anecdotes culturelles
-
French
Brillat-Savarin called the black truffle "the diamond of the kitchen."
-
Roman
Cicero dismissed truffles as mere "food for the rich" — yet ate them regularly.
Routes commerciales
- Roman roads — Périgord → Rome (1st–4th century AD)
- Medieval pilgrimage routes — France → Spain & Italy (12th–15th century)
À travers les âges
- Roman era Luxury food of the elite; believed to grow where lightning struck
- Medieval Europe Associated with the devil due to underground growth; avoided by the pious
- 18th–19th century Symbol of French haute cuisine and aristocratic feasts
- Modern era Global luxury ingredient; truffle oils and salts democratize the flavor