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Cicero deemed them children of the earth, while Dioscorides thought they were tuberous roots.

In classical times, their origins were a mystery that challenged many Plutarch and others thought them to be the result of lightning, warmth, and water in the soil, while Juvenal thought thunder and rain to be instrumental in their origin. The first mention of truffles appears in the inscriptions of the neo-Sumerians regarding their Amorite enemy's eating habits ( Third Dynasty of Ur, 20th century BCE) and later in writings of Theophrastus in the 4th century BCE. Truffles are cultivated and harvested from natural environments. Edible truffles are used in Italian, French and numerous other national haute cuisines.

French gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin called truffles "the diamond of the kitchen". Some truffle species are highly prized as food. These fungi have significant ecological roles in nutrient cycling and drought tolerance. Spore dispersal is accomplished through fungivores, animals that eat fungi. Truffles are ectomycorrhizal fungi, so they are usually found in close association with tree roots. Several truffle-like basidiomycetes are excluded from Pezizales, including Rhizopogon and Glomus. These genera belong to the class Pezizomycetes and the Pezizales order. In addition to Tuber, over one hundred other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including Geopora, Peziza, Choiromyces, and Leucangium. A truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, predominantly one of the many species of the genus Tuber.