Fabulously Delicious: The French Food Podcast · Andrew Prior

Burgundy: The Food Capital of France You Need to Know

·48 min·3 clips

Époisses nearly disappeared until Robert and Simone Berthoud tracked down the last makers and relaunched it in 1956.

The episode begins with the story of Epoise and the quiet persistence of Robert and Simone Berthoud, who tracked down the remaining knowledge of the cheese and helped bring it back from near extinction in 1956. That rescue becomes the doorway into Burgundy’s wider food culture. Burgundy is presented as a region that rewards curiosity, because the landmarks are not only scenic but edible. The episode places the region in eastern France, roughly between Paris and the Alps, and points out how easy it is to cross without noticing how much food history sits beneath the road. That hidden depth runs through the whole piece. Burgundy comes across as a long-standing culinary center with medieval and monastic roots. The talk turns to the region’s cheeses, including the Cistercian abbey where monks still make cheese from their own herd. It also reaches into older noble and courtly food traditions, including the prestige once attached to Epoise. The episode then moves toward Burgundy’s meat culture and the landscape that supports it. Charolais beef is framed as one of the region’s great products, and Burgundy wine is described as its natural companion. The Charolais-Brionnais landscape and its unsuccessful 2011 UNESCO bid appear as part of that story, showing how tightly culture and agriculture are linked there. From there, the episode shifts to truffles, one of the region’s more surprising specialties. Burgundy’s truffles are explained as a serious local harvest, not a side note, with limestone soils, tree symbiosis, and a season that runs from September through January. The episode notes that around 10 tonnes are harvested each year, which gives the subject real weight. It also draws a historical contrast with Périgord truffles and explains that Burgundy’s variety was once served at the tables of French kings before changing tastes pushed it aside. The flavor profile is described as earthier, nuttier, and more delicate than its more famous cousin. The episode closes by bringing all of this back to Burgundy as a living food region, where history, terrain, and appetite keep feeding one another.

As heard by us

A brisk, layered portrait of Burgundy that links Epoise, truffles, Charolais beef, and the region's food history.

Burgundy is treated as a place where food and landscape fit together. It moves from Epoise cheese to truffles, Charolais beef, Burgundy wine, and the limestone soils and forested setting that help explain the region's table.

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Why you'd press play

Taste Burgundy through Epoise, truffles, Charolais beef, and a region that keeps its culinary memory alive.

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