For a basket of truffles

The precious and mysterious truffle has become the symbol of French haute cuisine, conquering the best restaurants in the world. The Périgord - a region in the South West of France – developed in the 19th and 20th centuries thanks to trade in the “black diamond”. But this fragile tuber and rustic product is also adapting to modern civilisation. On today’s markets, the merchants and pork butchers have given way to tourists and journalists, who come to discover the “black diamond” asif they were visiting a monument. Although the truffle is disappearing, its market is becoming globalised, its origins are diversifying and the old truffle cultivators are transforming themselves into tableaux vivants in the interests of international commerce.