Pâté de Périgueux: The Five-Hundred-Year-Old Pâté of the Dordogne | Food Tour de France
Pâté de Périgueux — the extraordinary truffled foie gras pâté of the Dordogne and one of the most historically significant preparations in the whole of French charcuterie — has been made in Périgueux since at least 1498, when a group of pastry makers calling themselves fabricants de pâtés swore an oath before the Consuls of the city. Today's Food Tour de France episode starts in Périgueux — the capital of the Dordogne, capital of the Périgord Blanc — and tells the full story of a dish that began as a pastry case filled with red partridge, evolved over three centuries into the truffled foie gras terrine we know today, and is now protected by a Confrérie that requires a strict minimum of three percent black Périgord truffle in every pâté that bears the name. This is French food history at its most specific, its most luxurious and its most deeply rooted in a single place.
The episode covers the full history of the pâté de Périgueux — from the medieval pastry makers of the city through the arrival of the Périgord truffle in the recipe in the eighteenth century, the earliest surviving description of a truffled foie gras pâté dating from 1750, and the Almanach des gourmands of 1803 which described it as food for the gods of the earth. We cover the strict composition rules that define a genuine pâté de Périgueux today — 57 percent grain-fed pork, 40 percent foie gras, a minimum of 3 percent black Périgord truffle — and the extraordinary culinary tradition that surrounds it, including its connection to sauce Périgueux, the classic Madeira and truffle sauce that Carême was already describing in his recipes at the turn of the nineteenth century and that Julia Child included in Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
The Food Tour de France is a daily series running alongside the 2026 Tour de France on Fabulously Delicious — one episode for every stage start and finish. The pâté de Périgueux episode sits at the heart of a remarkable stretch of food country — connecting to the Monbazillac wine episode from Bergerac, where the sweet white wine pairs perfectly with the foie gras at the heart of the pâté, and to the broader story of Périgord food culture that runs through this part of the series. Search Fabulously Delicious on Spotify and Apple Podcasts for the full series.
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