Beef Stew à la Sainte-Tulle

This is an adaptation of a regional dish, not from the southeastern Alps, but from the southwestern truffle country of the Périgord. Near the village of Tulle, beginning in the eighth century, there was a Benedictine abbey whose monks helped to develop the agriculture of the district. Six hundred years later, when Tulle was incorporated as a town, it was known as Sainte-Tulle, in honor of the holy men who had made it famous as a farm and food center. Today, Tulle is known all over France fo