Champignons de Paris

Before coming to live in France, I was never particularly fond of champignons de Paris—or as we call them, champignons, or button mushrooms. But with them being so widely available, in the freshest form possible, at every shop and market, glancing back at you with that slight crunch you get when biting into a fresh mushroom, it becomes much harder to resist something that’s been so deeply rooted in French cuisine.

The cultivation of these almost perfectly round buttons started in the 17th century, thanks to the gardener of Louis XIV, who introduced mushrooms into the gardens of Versailles. Little did he know — Monsieur Jean-Baptiste de La Quintinie — that by planting these mushrooms outdoors and cultivating them for use in the royal kitchens, he would start a centuries-long love affair with fungi, laying the groundwork for what would become underground mushroom farming in Paris.

But it did happen. By the early 19th century, champignons de Paris were being grown in the underground quarries (or mines) beneath the city. This method, rather than growing them outdoors, provided a much more stable environment for the mushrooms to thrive. It might have started with one man in the 17th century, but by the end of the 19th, there were around 1,000 producers in Paris cultivating these little beauties.

Sadly, the farms had to be relocated to the Pays de la Loire region, around Saumur, in the late 19th century, as space was needed for the construction of the Paris Métro. Why Saumur? Simply because the regional tuffeau stone galleries provided the perfect conditions for mushroom cultivation—offering exactly what they needed to continue thriving.

Eaten fresh in salads like salade de Paris and served with aioli or other sauces, they’re lovely raw—but most of the time they’re fried, sautéed, boiled or worked into countless dishes that France is famous for: Boeuf Bourguignon, Coq au Vin, Champignons à la Grecque, and many, many more.