Original subtitles

[mid-tempo music plays]

-[Eva] Would you believe me if I told you

this wasn't a grand house for the nobility of Burgundy,

that it was built as a hospital for the poor?

Crowned with this magnificent tiled roof,

the Hospices de Beaune was a gift

from philanthropists in the 15th century.

Then, a relative of a patient said thank you,

the Burgundian way, by donating vineyard plots.

In this famous wine region,

a single gesture blossomed into a world-class wine estate.

I love this story because it tells you

everything about Burgundy

and not just the generosity of its people,

but how deeply their lives are tied to the land

and to tradition.

I'm Eva Longoria, and I'm a serious Francophile.

Santé.

Over the past 20 years, my career as an actor

has brought me to France time and again.

It's my home away from home.

But those trips were more about work than joie de vivre.

[laughs]

Now I want something deeper.

This is gonna be an adventure!

So I'm setting out to really experience France...

-This is cabernet sauvignon. -[gasps] That's my favourite.

...to savour its world-celebrated cuisine...

Wow.

...and explore the country's rich history.

Vive la France! [laughs]

They say that wine is simply the medium

through which the land and the seasons speak to you.

Burgundy soil whispers its history and character

through the world-class wines

made from its mosaic of vineyards.

Oh, I love that.

Wine infuses the region's rich, hearty cuisine...

Wonderful.

...and the warm, characterful people.

-♪ ...la, la, la ♪

Yay! I remembered it! -[laughs]

-[Eva] Ooh! He found it. [laughing] He found it.

Here, every treasure coaxed from the earth tells its story.

I can taste the grass.

-That's the idea of terroir.

-Wow! -Wow!

-Burgundy soil and soul is in every mouthful.

How do you get better than this?

-I don't know, to be honest. -[laughs]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Burgundy wine used to live in Bordeaux's shadow,

but not any more.

Today, it's name-dropped by A-listers,

snapped up by investment bankers.

Some of the vineyards even sell for up to eight figures.

Located in eastern France,

Burgundy is blessed with an elevated ridge,

home to its most prestigious vineyards,

known as the Côte d'Or, the Golden Slope.

Today I'm gonna meet Lo ïc Lamy.

He's a bit of a Burgundy wine whisperer.

-Hi! -Hello! Welcome.

-How are you? -I'm good. How are you?

♪♪

-[Eva] I love how in Burgundy,

even where you live is in relation to the vine.

-Absolutely. They are everywhere.

And everybody works with vines, wines.

When I bought the house,

the owner agreed to sell me the house if I was making wine.

-Only if you made wine. -Do you want to try some?

-Yes! -Please come with me.

Land in Burgundy is so expensive

that most small winemakers

buy in surplus grapes from bigger producers.

Oh, yeah. It's a cellar cellar. -Right this way. It is.

-Lo ïc supplies a handful of local restaurants,

but this bijou operation is about pleasure over profit.

-It's tiny, but there's enough space

to make a little bit of wine. -And what do you make?

-There's two grapes in Burgundy.

There is pinot noir, and there is chardonnay.

These two come from here.

We're starting with a pinot noir.

♪♪

-Oh, yeah. That's so easy.

-Fresh, easy.

-I've never had such a fresh pinot noir.

-So this is the chardonnay. -Okay.

-There you go.

-That is so nice.

Sometimes chardonnays can be very perfumy.

-Pure, fresh, elegant.

-It really rivals the pinot noir.

If they were arm wrestling, it'd be a tie.

-Yeah.

-From his modest cellar,

Lo ïc takes me to see the Burgundy VIPs --

Very Important Pinots.

One winemaker is rhapsodised about in wine bars

and rapped about by Jay-Z -- Domaine Dujac.

-I'm very, very happy to introduce you

to Jeremy Seysses from Domaine Dujac.

-Hi, Jeremy. -Hi, Eva.

-How are you? -Pleasure to meet you.

-Why do you have an American accent?

-My mom's American, but I've lived here my whole life.

-Back in the '60s, Jeremy's dad, Jacques,

purchased five vineyard blocks.

Today, Domaine Dujac has expanded to 85.

Okay.

Burgundy wines are classified by quality,

and we're at the intersection of two of the best.

On the higher slope, the grand cru is the very best,

with a price to match.

And just across the road on the lower side,

the premier cru comes a close second.

So wait. So you're telling me

the wine that would come from these grapes

tastes different than the wine from just right here?

-Yes, but if we're taking the block in its entirety

and the block in its entirety, then you have real differences.

-Here, pinot noir vines magnify small differences in the soil

and the angle to the sun,

producing wines that each tell their own delicious story.

-Eva, I think the next step is for us to go back to the winery,

where I can show you these differences

and you can taste them.

And my brother has been preparing boeuf Bourguignon.

-[gasps] I haven't had it yet. -Very good.

-The chef of the family is Jeremy's brother, Paul.

-How are you? -I'm good. How are you?

-Good. Nice to meet you. -Nice to meet you too.

-I'm very excited to have boeuf Bourguignon

here in the birthplace.

-It's everyone's comfort-food dish.

This is beef cheek marinated overnight in some wine.

-Boeuf Bourguignon -- Burgundy beef --

was originally a peasant stew that used wine

to tenderise cheap cuts of meat.

-There you go.

You want to cover the meat with wine.

-This is Domaine Dujac. -Yes.

This is a mix of village, premier cru,

and grand cru wines.

-I bet peasants weren't using hundreds of dollars

of top quality pinot.

You don't know how lucky you are.

It's a premium bath of wine.

While the boeuf Bourguignon bubbles away...

...finally, I get to taste these celebrated wines.

-Okay. -It's a 2010.

So it was the one that was above the road.

-Okay.

[sighs]

-So the premier cru that was on the lower side of the road.

-And you said they wouldn't taste the same.

-Yes. And they were separated by about this much.

-They were -- literally this much space in between.

♪♪

Oh, I love that.

-This was the lower one. -Mm-hmm.

-Now on to the very best, the grand cru.

Oh, yeah. Much different. Oh, my gosh. Is this spicier?

-Mm-hmm, like when you lick a paper cut,

that type of iron kind of taste you get.

I usually get that in collage.

In combottes, I feel like we get a little bit of smoked meats.

But ultimately, you're connected with a product

that has deep roots in the place.

That feeling of connection

is one of the most important things.

-[Eva] Oh, yes!

-[Paul] All right. I'll start serving wine.

-[Eva] Look at the colour! Let's get serving.

Joining us for dinner are Jeremy's wife, Diana

and Lo ïc and his wife, Milena.

♪♪

That is so soft. And you know what?

The wine isn't overpowering.

Oh, my God. That is amazing!

-Thank you! -[laughs]

This is so good. Wow. It's so tender.

-Mmm.

-What do you think makes Burgundy so special?

-[Jeremy] Growers here have a real intimacy with the land.

And I think that's something

the world has a certain hankering for.

-Yeah. I also think proximity to authenticity.

You can only get this experience here,

and there's something, you know, to be said for that.

Santé.

-[Jeremy] Santé. -[Eva] [laughs]

♪♪

-I'm on my way to meet Burgundy wine historian Arnaud Orsel.

But he didn't tell me where we're going,

only that it was somewhere meaningful.

I'm meeting Arnaud east of the Côte d'Or wine ridge,

somewhere in the region's rich agricultural heartland.

♪♪

He says this is where the story of Burgundy began.

Hello! -Bonjour, Eva.

-Merci beaucoup. -Welcome to Burgundy.

Welcome to the Abbey of Cîteaux.

-Are there monks? -There are monks.

-So what's the importance of this place?

-Here in this abbey, the monks created 900 years of history.

In Burgundy, we owe so much to the Cistercian order

about food, wine, and culture.

♪♪

-Bonjour. -Welcome to Cîteaux.

-Bonjour, Frère Benoit. This is Eva.

-Come with me. I will show you around.

-Oh, thank you.

[bell tolling]

The Cistercian Order was formed in the 11th century

by monks concerned that their original monastery

had been corrupted by wealth and power.

The Cistercian Order lived a simple life

with an emphasis on manual labour.

Is this still a functioning order?

- Working. -Yeah.

Thank you for praying for us.

[laughter]

♪♪

They were like the first researchers

and scientists of the land. -Yeah.

The monks of the Cîteaux Abbey

developed the agricultural know-how

that became the foundation of Burgundy gastronomy.

-[Eva] What do you do now? -[Benoit] We are making cheese.

-[Eva] Oh, my gosh. I never turn down cheese.

-[Benoit] Really? -[laughter]

-Frère Benoit and his brothers

rear their own herd of Montbéliarde cows

that produce milk rich in fat and protein.

The monks handcraft this cheese from a century-old recipe.

-[Benoit] To make cheese, monasteries are perfect.

We have land. We can have cows and know-how.

-Oh, wow. It looks -- Great texture.

Cîteaux Abbey cheese is renowned

for its earthy aroma and dense texture.

Mmm. It's creamy.

-[Benoit] In summer, the colour is a little bit yellow

because cows are eating grass.

In the winter, hay. -I can taste the grass.

-That's the idea of terroir.

You need to have the grass, the cows,

and the hands of the people of the place.

-Everything is in this delicious piece of cheese.

-Before you leave, I have something for you.

-Oh, okay. -For both of you.

-Ooh! Un cadeau?

[laughs] -This one for you.

And one for you and one for me.

-Before cheese came wine.

The Château Clos de Vougeot sits on the land

where the monks of Cîteaux Abbey

planted their first vines.

Today it's home of the wine society

where I first met Arnaud.

[ Group singing "Ban Bourguignon" ]

The Chevaliers du Tastevin was founded in the 1930s

to promote Burgundy food and wine.

♪♪

A wine society sounds elitist, but not here.

These guys are down to earth

and passionate about wine, food, and life itself.

[ Singing "Ban Bourguignon" ]

-Et voilà.

-To help with all that drinking...

...the Château has its own chef, Alex Bouvret.

♪♪

Alex is making a rich cheese sauce

to serve with the poached eggs and bacon.

Sounds like the perfect Burgundy brunch to me.

Okay. Et voilà!

-Oui.

-To a chardonnay-laced chicken stock,

Alex adds warm cream.

I'm waiting for the cheese to go in!

My God. It's getting creamier and creamier.

So much cheese!

♪♪

♪♪

Oh, my God.

-Wow! -Wow!

Oh, my Go-- Well, I just want to do this now.

Alex tops poached eggs with bacon, onions, and mushrooms...

...before drowning them in the luxurious cheese sauce.

[gasps] Wow.

-[Arnaud] Merci, Chef.

-Arnaud and I rendezvous in the château's dining room.

I'm so excited. [laughs]

Mmm.

It's still very rich and complex.

-And it will be perfectly matching

with a glass of Clos Vougeot. -Mmm!

-Burgundy wine from this appellation,

so I think it's interesting

to match the cheese made by the monks

with the wines that they use to make.

-I love that you still honour that history.

-It's very important to us.

So, you know, in Burgundy

we have a tradition when we're happy.

Do you remember when we were at --

-Oh, the song! Yes! I love the song.

-"Ban Bourguignon." -Yes. "Ban Bourguignon."

-Un, deux...

-[both] ♪ La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la ♪

♪ La-la-la, la-la-la, la, la, la ♪

-Yay! I remembered it! -[laughs]

♪♪

-[Eva] Boeuf Bourguignon. Coq au vin. Escargot.

Classics of French cuisine originated here in Burgundy.

♪♪

These dishes are hearty and comforting,

using a handful of ingredients, often slow-cooked in wine.

All of these iconic dishes can trace their roots

back to the kitchens of the court right behind me.

♪♪

♪♪

-Bonjour! -Bonjour, Eva.

[ Both speaking French ]

-Nice to meet you.

-Born and raised in Burgundy, chef William Frachot

grew up cooking and eating these traditional dishes.

But it's the region's produce that excites him the most.

So you're a two-Michelin-star chef,

and you shop at the market that everybody goes to.

-Oui. Yes.

Of course, because most of my producers work here.

And I like to come to talk about when they will get

the best vegetables or fruits for the restaurant.

-Mm-hmm.

Here, a trip to the farmers' market

isn't just the grocery run.

It's a cultural pastime.

♪♪

[gasps] Oh. This is beautiful.

How do you know what to pick?

The vegetables talk to you?

-They talk to me. You see...

-Mmm! Oh, my God. That's so fresh.

Ah! [laughs] Sorry.

We're eating your produce. -No. It's okay.

♪♪

-There you go. -Oh, I love rhubarb season.

-What are you making? -Dessert.

-Of course.

-So now, Eva, there is one very special ingredient

I want to show you. -[gasps] Oh!

Joseph supplies native Burgundian chickens

to William's restaurant.

-French flag. -[Joseph] Yeah.

[chicken squawks]

Oh, yeah.

-This right here? -Yeah.

-What does it eat?

Oh, and that affects the flavour?

-Yeah. Of course.

-Once described as the poultry of kings,

these royal birds are reared for six times longer

than your average chicken and come with a $70 price tag.

-Let's go. We've got some cooking to do now.

♪♪

-Burgundy's regional produce

has long been the secret to its success.

Strategically located between Paris and Lyon

on a mediaeval trade route lies Burgundy's capital, Dijon.

Back in the Middle Ages, Burgundy was ruled

by entrepreneurial dukes who exported its fine produce,

and the region's wealth and influence grew.

Today, this pride in local ingredients

is celebrated not by dukes,

but by Dijon's innovative chefs.

And so what is your philosophy?

Don't burn the chicken. That's a good philosophy.

-Kind of Burgundy 2.0.

-On the menu in William's restaurant,

le poulet de Bresse is prepared two ways...

-[William] Voilà.

-...simply roasted to show off the fat-marbled flesh...

-[William] Merci beaucoup.

-...and with a more complex, creative flair.

-Then the second one, we put the legs

in a crispy lettuce with a cazette miso.

-William has made a miso paste

using a local hazelnut called cazette.

-That is absolutely different than a hazelnut.

You've got the taste of chocolate,

coffee... -Mmm!

-...and sometimes a bit of leather.

-Yeah, it's not hazelnut. -No.

-It's like a cousin of hazelnut.

-It is. Then I get this paste.

I leave it on a shelf for two months.

-Two months?

-You get this kind of umami taste.

There you go.

-That is amazing. That is tasty.

♪♪

The first chicken dish is ready for me to try.

I've had many a fat-marbled steak,

so I'm intrigued to taste a fat-marbled chicken.

Oh, my God. Look at the texture.

It's so silky and shiny.

Mmm!

-Nothing more to add. -It's so tender.

Mmm. Wow.

How do you get better than this?

-I don't know, to be honest. -[laughs]

- But he's gonna give it a shot. -[oil crackling]

For the second dish,

William pan-fries lettuce in butter until crispy

and drizzles it with cazette miso

and a chardonnay vinaigrette gel.

♪♪

You made the vinaigrette into a gelatin.

-If I put vinegar on it, that will melt the crispy.

-Oh, but it's the same taste. -It's exactly the same taste.

-Without ruining the lettuce.

♪♪

-This is the crispy chicken skins.

We'll grate it on top of it to season. See?

-You're seasoning the chicken with chicken skin.

-Lemon and ginger.

♪♪

-Oh, my God.

♪♪

We did get better than that. -[laughs]

-Wow. Chicken's perfectly cooked.

The crispiness of the skin

with that lettuce crispiness and this miso...

All chicken should taste like this.

Does this fit into the story of Burgundy's cuisine?

-Burgundy cuisine is plenty of heavy food,

and I think it's time to rewrite the Burgundy cuisine today.

-A world-class chicken cooked by a world-class chef.

[laughs]

♪♪

-[Eva] I've never been a big fan of escargot,

and I'm trying to keep an open mind,

because here in Burgundy, they're not just a delicacy.

They're an entire identity.

I'm north-west of Dijon, where for centuries,

the limestone soil has provided the perfect environment

for raising snails -- near Flavigny-sur-Ozerain.

I'm meeting a snail farmer who's bringing

this traditional practice back onto local soil.

Who loves snails that much?

-Bonjour. -Hi, Eva. Hi.

-Nice to meet you. -Nice to meet you, too.

Welcome at Helixine, my snail farm.

-29-year-old Perrine Doudin. That's who.

Wait. So this is the snail farm?

Wow. That's a lot of snails.

Well, how did you start this snail farm?

Yeah.

- Uh-huh. - [laughs]

With no background in agriculture,

suddenly Perrin found her calling in life.

Uh-huh.

Yeah.

♪♪

I already see them! -All the snails.

-Oh, my God. They're huge. -Yeah. They're so big.

-Oh, my gosh. Oh, gosh. Are you gonna pull --

Oh, yep. You pulled it off. Okay.

Do I hold it or do I not hold it?

-You can. It's good for the skin.

-Well, I don't want some cream right now on my skin, but...

Oh, my gosh.

How old do they have to be

to be fully grown? -Six months.

-So they get bigger than this? -Yeah. Bigger.

-Oh, my gosh. How old are these? -It's almost finished.

-They are three months. -Oh!

-The slime -- He is slimy.

-I don't know if this is gonna help me to like them more.

I don't know about this. Wait. Is it a boy or a girl?

They're both?

Oh, okay. I don't know if I want to know how they reproduce.

-When they find a partner,

they begin with a love dance that lasts two hours.

-A love dance? -Yeah.

♪♪

-They have, like, a little flirtation for a couple hours?

-Yeah.

And just before the meeting, they throw a little love dart.

-Love dart? -Yeah.

-If they like somebody, they go chhh!

-Yeah, and then they're mating.

-Then that's it. Et voilà. They're mating.

-They have sex during 10 hours.

-They have sex for 10 hours? -Yes.

-I got to say, I have a whole new respect for snails.

What do they eat? -They eat nettles.

Aromatic herbs to give them full taste.

-They eat that, and it makes them taste better.

-Yes.

-[speaking French]

Why is it important for you to raise these?

-Because it's important to have a local production.

-How much production is not local?

-85% of snails are imported from Eastern Europe.

-They come from not France? -It's not French. No. No, no.

-Burgundians love their snails.

But local snail farming was all but wiped out

by foreign producers who could tackle

this labour-intensive production on a massive scale.

Here it's just Perrine and me.

-So you're gonna help me to give them a limestone supplement.

-All the way back here? -Yeah. You're doing great.

-So why limestone?

-Because they need calcium to have great flesh,

to have a beautiful shell.

Yeah. In Burgundy, we have limestone soil.

-Oh, right. So you're trying to mimic the natural environment?

How long have you been doing this?

-I started five years ago.

-When you were 23? -Yeah, yeah.

I created this all by myself.

The wooden board, all the net.

Do you like snails? -To eat snails?

-Yeah. To eat snails. -They're not my favourite.

-I think you will enjoy mine. -Okay.

Once harvested, Perrine cooks the snails

the traditional way -- à la Bourguignonne,

first in stock and then in a garlic herb butter.

Invented in 19th-century Burgundy,

this dish became an instant hit in the bistros

up and down France

for being a simple but sophisticated delicacy.

All right. I'm as ready as I'll ever be.

-That's my snail. -I'm excited!

Don't be fooled by the rustic shack.

Perrine's snails are sought after by Michelin chefs.

Is this the escargot that will finally win me over?

Mm. Mmm!

That sauce is amazing.

♪♪

You don't like snails?

Only yours? But these are amazing.

This is the first snail that I've eaten

that doesn't have a... a gritty texture.

This is really smooth, and it's not overly chewy.

Yeah. Oh, my God. These are fantastic.

Look at all that butter. That's so good.

Wow. It's the first snail that I actually like.

Taking on the big producers with her artisanal farm,

Perrine's a real Burgundy hero.

And now j'adore les escargot.

♪♪

-[Eva] I love a good condiment.

And Burgundy lays claim to one of my favourites, mustard.

In fact, the French word for mustard is moutarde,

and many believe it's derived from a motto

that the dukes of Burgundy had -- "Moult me tarde,"

which means, "Many await me."

But I'll tell you, I'm not waiting any longer

for my next stop.

♪♪

Although the famous mustard recipe is named after Dijon,

mustard cultivation in Burgundy

first took off in the Middle Ages here,

in the fields surrounding the city of Beaune.

-[Marjorie] Hi. Welcome. -Thank you!

-How are you? -I am good.

-Oh, the French greeting. -This is my daughter.

The French greeting -- the Americans...

-Nice to meet you. -...are in Burgundy.

You are a long way from Arizona.

-Yes. I like to blame that on you.

-Oh, it's your fault? -Huge passion for France.

I ended up coming here to study wine

and convinced my mom to come join me.

-Kendall Smith Franchini and her mom, Marjorie Taylor,

moved to Burgundy 18 years ago

to open a French cooking school.

Americans moving to France to teach cooking is a bold move.

These sound like my kind of women.

So, do I get a cooking lesson?

-Yeah. We're gonna go cook together.

But we have a special ingredient to get.

-Have you ever been in a deux chevaux?

-[gasps] Are we going in a deux chevaux?

-[Marjorie] She's right out front.

-A deux chevaux. Oh, my God. -Isn't she sweet?

Her name is Madeline.

♪♪

Driving through the Burgundy countryside in Madeline,

I feel like I'm in an old French movie.

-Isn't it beautiful? -It's like a can of sardines.

-Yeah. It just rolls back. -Peels back.

♪♪

-Thank you, Madeleine. -[laughs]

-[Kendall] So we're at the mustard field,

and they've just finished the harvest.

-This is Olivier. -Enchanté.

Je suis Eva. -Good evening.

-[Kendall] And this is mustard.

-Olivier Cretin's family have been farming this land

for three generations.

Oh, my God! That is mustard!

Yep. There it is. [laughs] Ah-ha!

♪♪

Next stop is the rural outpost of the cooking school --

Woodland House.

This is like Architectural Digest right here.

This photo. [laughter]

Wow.

This is beautiful! This is my dream kitchen.

And it's a French country fantasy.

What are we making today?

Rabbit. -With mustard.

But first we have to make the mustard.

I'm gonna add some white ones. -Okay.

-[Kendall] And then we can add the brown ones.

-This whole-grain mustard uses a combination

of white mustard seeds and the hotter brown seeds.

Kendall adds chardonnay along with the juice

of unripe grapes to provide this distinctive tang.

-[Kendall] Then these are gonna soak overnight.

-It turns into this.

[mixer whirring]

Oh! It smells so good. [whirring stops]

-[Kendall] All right. So now we've got it blended.

This one here is a Dijon mustard, which is more creamy.

And then we'll mix both of them together.

-[Marjorie] First we're gonna prepare the rabbit.

-Now, is the rabbit typical in Burgundy?

-French people still eat a lot of rabbit.

It's farmed, and we happen to have a really great butcher

at our Saturday-morning market who makes the nicest rabbit.

-Like so much of the good stuff here,

it was the mediaeval monks who pioneered

the domestication of rabbits.

♪ Smells amazing ♪

And the rabbit's mild taste is a perfect vehicle

for the mustard's kick.

-And in we go.

♪♪

-Of course, no meal is complete without a glass of wine...

-Welcome to the Burgundy wine fridge.

-This is a wine fridge!

...and these ladies have a novel way

to keep the chardonnay cold.

Oh, my God. Okay.

-Be careful. It's cold.

-[grunts]

I got it!

I got the second-most important thing -- the wine.

[laughs]

-[Kendall] And, Eva, this is Laurent, my husband.

-How are you? -Nice to meet you. Very well.

-The Frenchman. -The Frenchman of the family.

♪♪

-[Eva] Peppers. Oh, my God. That looks beautiful.

I'll take this. Can I give you this?

-[Laurent] Thank you so much. Of course. A little bit of wine?

-[Eva] Yes! -[Laurent] Okay.

-[Kendall] You have to have enough sauce.

Especially if you have Frenchmen.

-[Laurent] Of course. -[Eva] Bon appetit!

♪♪

Mmm! Oh, my goodness.

There's a bit of saltiness to the mustard, no?

-But not as spicy with the crème fraîche, which is nice.

-No, not spicy at all. Mm. But tangy.

-[Kendall] But tangy. Yes. -Mmm.

Everything is delicious.

Is it one of your favourite dishes?

"Okay, these Americans might have something to them."

A mediaeval mustard recipe is the start

of a modern love story.

Well, it certainly won my heart.

♪♪

-[Eva] So far, Burgundy has shown me

that everything has deep ties and respect to the land.

Which today brings me to a very special ingredient

that has been hiding beneath these soils

for centuries -- the Burgundy truffle.

Over the centuries, this land has been home

to the monks and dukes of Burgundy,

here, in the Côte de Nuits.

Surrounded by ancient forests, this 17th-century chateau

stands in all its faded splendour,

a love letter to the past.

♪♪

♪♪

-Bonjour! -Oh! Eva, how are you?

I'm good!

Nice to meet you.

Thank you.

♪♪

Seven generations of Arnaud Poustank's family

have been maintaining this sprawling estate,

including restoring its indigenous truffle orchards.

Like so many Burgundy treasures,

truffles are a work of time.

Cultivation takes up to 10 years,

which requires the patient devotion of generations.

♪♪

We're on a treasure hunt, guys.

Here comes the star of the day. Bonjour!

Bonjour, mon cheri.

-Eva, may I introduce Cedric?

-[Arnaud] Mm-hmm.

♪♪

-Oh, he's so excited.

Burgundy's warm summers and cool winters

provide the perfect climate for these flavoursome fungi

to develop underground.

♪♪

-[Cedric] Hey!

-[Eva] Yay!

Bravo! Bravo!

Ooh! He found another one!

Ooh! He found it. [laughing] He found it.

♪♪

-[Arnaud] Perfect. -This is a small baby.

-Yeah? Mmm. Yeah. Oh, it smells good.

[speaking French ]

-Eva, may I introduce my wife.

-Arnaud's wife, Ghislaine, has hundreds of truffle recipes,

given their backyard bounty.

-Trois jours. Three days. -Oui. Three days.

-We start by making truffle-infused crème fraîche.

France's most famous truffles

come from Périgord and Provence.

But Burgundy's truffles are highly prized

for their more subtle, nutty flavour.

♪♪

Okay.

To the truffle-infused crème fraîche and shrimp...

Ah!

...goes a truffle-infused egg,

followed by -- you've guessed it -- truffle-infused butter.

Ghislaine bakes the eggs in the microwave.

Apparently, top chefs swear it gives eggs the perfect texture.

[microwave whirring]

But who am I to argue with greatness?

♪♪

-[Eva] Hello! Enchante. -Hello, Eva.

-Arnaud and Ghislaine's son, Gerald, joins us for dinner.

[speaking French]

It's a shrimp with the crème fraîche and the egg.

Mmm.

-[Gerald] It's too good?

-The truffle is so subtle,

and it goes well with the shrimp and the crème fraîche.

It's like a perfect combination.

Mm. Always.

[laughs]

A family favourite is the truffle-infused cheese.

Oh, look at that. Look at these big chunks of truffle.

♪♪

Mmm.

♪♪

[laughter]

[birds chirping]

♪♪

What strikes me about Burgundy is how everything is connected.

Terroir isn't just in the wine. It's in the cheese.

It's in the mustard. It's in the truffles.

Every flavour shaped by the land and its history,

building on centuries of innovation

by the pioneering monks and business-savvy dukes.

Burgundy's gastronomy remains at the heart of French cuisine

to this day.

Because here, good wine and good food aren't indulgences.

It's a way of life.