‘Fragrant diamond’, ‘black pearl’, ‘shadowy lady’, or even ‘underground empress’ – there is no shortage of nicknames to describe the exquisite intensity and the mysterious aura which has surrounded this venerated and condemned mushroom for centuries.
During the Middle Ages, the Church referred to truffles as ‘Devil’s mushrooms’, but quickly changed its mind and permitted its celebration, via a ‘truffle mass’, celebrated on the 3rd Sunday of January, in homage of Saint Antoine, the patron saint of truffle collectors and the ‘black diamond’. At this moment, during the search, the basket is filled with beautiful truffles which are auctioned at the end of the ceremony.
In France, François I was the first person to bear homage to this equally exceptional and mysterious mushroom. It is said that every year, he always offered a basket of truffles to his mistress…