French Regional Cuisine MidiPyrenee Longuedoc Roussillion I MidiPyrennes

French Regional Cuisine Midi-Pyrenee & Longuedoc - Roussillion

I. Midi-Pyrennes Major Cities: Toulouse Lourdes Perpignan Climate: Mediterra nean, warm, dry summers, cold winters CA 204 French Regional Cuisine I. Midi. Pyrenees

I. Midi-Pyrenees forms a region in south-western France. It is bounded to the east by Languedoc-Roussillion, to the north by Auvergne and Limousin, to the west by Aquitaine and to the south by Spain. The Midi-Pyrenees region consists of eight departments: Ariege Haute-Garonne Lot Tarn Aveyron Gers Hautes-Pyrenees Tarn-et-Garonne With 2, 70 million inhabitants and a surface area of 45, 350 km², Midi-Pyrénées is the largest region of France, larger than the Netherlands or Denmark. CA 204 French Regional Cuisine I. Midi. Pyrenees

I. Midi Pyrenees – History in Brief 200 BC Roman invasion 3 rd -5 th century, the Alemanni, the Vandals and the Visigoths swept the region and Toulouse became capital of the Visigoth Kingdom. 801, Charlemagne marched into Spain / Catalonia and absorbed it After his death, the Counts of Toulouse took control of seven cities and the Rouergue district 1200 s, the Cathar the University of Toulouse was created, and Perpignan became capital of the Kingdom of Majorca and the Balearic Islands. 1271 Toulouse came under French rule. 1300’s, the Quercy and Rouergue districts were ceded to the King of England in 1659 Treaty of Pyrénées restored them to the French crown The Napoléonic era witnessed the discovery of the Pyrénées’ first thermal springs, which were transformed into full-fledged spa resorts under the Second Empire and the Third Republic. During World War II, the Pyrénées proved to be of vital importance to the French Resistance movement. CA 204 French Regional Cuisine I. Midi. Pyrenees

I. Products • Truffles • Cheeses • Goose & Duck liver • Laguiole • Snail • Roquefort • Cod • Rocammadour Dried & Cured pork • Pyrenean Tomme cheese products from Lacaune – • Bleu de Causses the pro salters of Lacaune have achieved the distinguished Red Label for • Aquitaine their Pork products, but AOC • Jambon de Bayonne – status has not been granted Bayonne ham • Fruits • Agneau de lait de pyrenee – • Melons of Quercy & Milk fed lamb from the Lectoure Pyrenees • Chasselas grape from (AOC) Moissac – one of the rare fruits being given AOC status CA 204 French Regional Cuisine I. Midi Pyrenees

I. Products – Duck & Goose foie gras Feeding and upbringing of duck and gees • Migratory birds in particular, naturally overfeed to endure winter and to fly long distances. They stock fat in their liver. Man has copied this since 4000 years, to obtain foie gras. • A fattened liver is not a diseased liver: The livers show a lipidic excess (fatty liver) due to a rich feeding, without signs of degeneration. • If the fattened poultry is released, the fattened liver would go back to its initial weight, without any modification of its physiological functions. CA 204 French Regional Cuisine I. Midi Pyrenees

I. Products – Duck & Goose Liver Facts • Before being fattened, poultry are bred • The one-day old birds are grown specially, they are paid particular attention related to ambient temperature and feeding. • Cramming (force feeding), which lasts 2 or 3 weeks according to species, is done 2 or 3 times a day for geese. Corn is the best food used because of its high starch content (75%), and on the other hand, of its composition poor of certain enzymes permitting an important accumulation of lipids in the liver. CA 204 French Regional Cuisine I. Midi Pyrenees

I. French Paradox The French Paradox Benefits In 1978, Dr Serge RENAUD discovered the importance of some unsaturated fatty acids for prevention of cardiovascular diseases; this is the beginning of the « Paradoxe Français » channel. It was shown that in Toulouse, where people are big consumers of confit, goose or duck fat, the coronarian mortality is very low and the life expectancy very high. Geese and duck products have a high polyunsaturated fatty acids content, which are organism protectors CA 204 French Regional Cuisine I. Midi Pyrenees

I. Products - Truffles from the Lot area of Mid Pyrenees have found it’s way onto the markets across France and the world. About 20% of the total truffle harvest of France (45% of the world wide production - 20 -30 metric tons per year) come from the Midi Pyrenees area with Lalbenque in Quercy being the most famous markets in the area. These "black diamonds" are harvested in aok or hazel orchards across from mid-November to mid-March. Traditionally, the harvesters use sows (pigs) to detect truffles beneath the soil. This reason is, that the scent of a ripe truffle is similar to the sexual odour of the wild boar. This scent drives the pigs into a sexual frenzy, and the handler of the pig must be careful, that the pig is not eating the truffle as soon as it found it. CA 204 French Regional Cuisine I. Midi. Pyrenees

I. Products – Espelette (piment de) Espelette is a mildly spicy variety of chili peppers grown in the southern French Pyrenees mountains. The chili is grown in this area of the Basque country since the 16 th century, when an explorer, retuning from his voyage to South America introduced the original plant. The pepper, as the AOC distinction guarantees (since 2000) , is grown in only 10 villages. “Piment espelette” (French) is an essential ingredient in Basque cuisine and the key flavor in Piperade, the Basque national vegetable dish. Harvested from mid August through September, they and hung throughout the villages for at least 15 days to dry them. The harvesting week is noted on the cord which holds the bushels for control of freshness and drying stage. CA 204 French Regional Cuisine I. Midi. Pyrenees

I. Products - Snails. Approximately 40000 metric tonnes of snails being produced per year in France. Midi Pyrenees is one of the main production areas. There are three main varieties being produced: • “petit gris” (small gray) • “gros gris” (large grey) • Burgundy snail, although they are less often produced due to it’s difficulty to raise them. CA 204 French Regional Cuisine I. Midi Pyrenees

I. Products - Snails Reproduction : . Snails are bred in cages with good soil in pots at general density of 200 Petit-Gris or 100 Gros-Gris per m². Ideally, these cages are kept at 20° C with a relative humidity of 95%. Snails lay about 100 eggs after mating in soft soil. When a snail has laid, the pot is placed into an incubator at 20° C and covered. Within three weeks, about 100 new hatched snails appear under the lid. Generally 70 young snails per breeder snail is expected every 2 months. CA 204 French Regional Cuisine I. Midi Pyrenees

I. Products - Snails Production : . Snails must be perched after harvesting -5 to 6 days fasting in wooden boxes, then washed well - Layered with rocksalt - escargot will issue a lot of foam this is called disgorging (perching). -Washed again then scalded with boiling water - After three days of the salt treatment (above), the escargots are boiled for three minutes. -Then they are removed from their shells. - The hepatho-pancreas ("tortillon" in french) can be cut off or not depending on preference. Lovers of the Petit Gris prefer the entire escargot whereas it is mostly removed for the Gros Gris. CA 204 French Regional Cuisine I. Midi Pyrenees

I. Products - Snails Production : . -The raw flesh is then put into cold salt water for 15 minutes. -After that they are rinsed again they are ready for cooking or freezing. Traditional cooking method The escargot flesh is cooked in a Court Bouillon. The Court-Bouillon is started cold, then heated progressively up to a simmer. The snails are simmered for about 60 to 90 minutes. Only now the snails are ready to eat with any flavoring sauces. CA 204 French Regional Cuisine I. Midi Pyrenees

I. Products – Cheeses - Laguiole A AOC cheese produced form raw (unpasteurized) Simmental or Aubrac cows milk, collected at the high altitude pastures of . Aubrac (Pyrenee mountains). • Takes its name from the village Laguiole where it traditionally has been made by monks. • The coopérative Jeune Montagne is the only one licensed to produce Laguiole in the regions of Aveyron, Cantal and Lozère. • 45% fat content, around 40 kg per piece • Creamy texture • The name and the emblem of a cow stamped onto the thick natural rind, as well an aluminum identification plaque. • Production starts with renneting, before the curd is pressed in two consecutive stages. Maturing takes at least six to 12 months. CA 204 French Regional Cuisine I. Midi Pyrenees

I. Products – Cheeses - Rocammadour. Made from goat's milk from the Quercy Causses - A. k. a "Cabécou de Rocamadour" - meaning "small goat's milk cheese" in Occitan -used as a trading currency for taxes in the 15 th century. -Made out with hot goat's milk, the Rocamadour has an ivory-colored creamy texture that melts in mouth. -Produced according to strict rules: Goat herds may contain only ten goats per hectare and cheeses mature in authentic cellars without any chemicals. -. CA 204 French Regional Cuisine I. Midi Pyrenees

I. Prodcucts – Cheeses - Roquefort. Considered by the French philosopher Diderot the "King of Cheeses“. -AOC accredited since 1930 - Ripened in the damp lime stone cellars of the French town of Roquefort. -When the cheeses are being left uncovered for about three weeks in the caves, the specific penicillium roqueforti fungus is formed and spreads throughout the pastes. - Roquefort cheeses are finally wrapped and stored for further maturing. -Three months aged to reach maturity. CA 204 French Regional Cuisine I. Midi Pyrenees

I. Traditional Dishes • Cassoulet of Toulouse • White bean stew with bacon, lamb and Toulouse sausage • Garbure • Pyrenean, rich, thick soup. • Potatoes, cabbage, beans from Tarbes and dried, cured pork knuckle • Toulouse sausage • Gâteau à la broche (spit-roast cake) a thick batter is drizzled over an iron rod while being turned over an open fire CA 204 French Regional Cuisine I. Midi Pyrenees

I. Traditional Dishes – Laboratory work • Anchovy leg of lamb • Poulet Basquaise • Confit of duck foie gras CA 204 French Regional Cuisine I. Midi Pyrenees

II. Languedoc & Roussillon - Introduction Major Cities: Nimes Carcassone, Montpellier Perpignan Climate: Mediterranea n, sunny & dry CA 204 French Regional Cuisine II. Languedoc Roussillon

II. Introduction Languedoc-Roussillon is the most southern regions of France bordering on Spain and Andorra in the south and Midi Pyrenees in the west while the Mediterranean sea lines the east for most of its borderline. The southern most parts of this region, the Roussillon part, is considered part of Catalonia which reaches as far south as Barcelona (Spain). CA 204 French Regional Cuisine II. Languedoc Roussillon

II. Introduction - Industries Major industries Agriculture: • Wine - 3 times the size of the Bordeaux area – Vin de pays d’oc • Fruits and Vegetables – Preserves – established with the opening of the Bas-Rhone irrigation canal • Honey • Olives • Fish and shellfish farms Tourism: • Due to the beaches of the Mediterranean sea Tech Industry • IBM, Dell and Palm all have factories in Languedoc CA 204 French Regional Cuisine II. Languedoc Roussillon

II. History in Brief 600 BC, Greek navigators introduced grapevines to the area. 121 BC, Roman invasion: they built the Via Domitia (passage from Italy to Spain), founded Narbone and built a 35 -mile long water aqueduct that carried water to Nîmes and irrigated the land. 12 th century, a breakaway religious sect, the Cathars, spread through the southern part of the region, in defiance of the Roman Catholic church and its ideology. 13 th century, Montpellier & Perpignan prospered under the rule of the Kings of Majorca, who later sold the two cities and Roussillon to the French crown. From the 17 th & 18 th century, an era of piece helped building the Languedoc Roussillon region. CA 204 French Regional Cuisine II. Languedoc Roussillon

II. Cuisine of Languedoc-Roussillon The recipes are based on olive oil, garlic and basil, this cuisine is typically flavored with herbs of the Provencal garrigue (scrubland) such as thyme, rosemary, bay, savory… Fresh fish is caught daily in the Mediterranean sea The phrase à la languedocienne means garnished with garlic, tomatoes, aubergines and cèpes (mushrooms). A la catalan indicates a rich tomato sauce. Olive oil is a basic element of Mediterranean cooking. CA 204 French Regional Cuisine II. Languedoc Roussillon

I. Products of Languedoc - Roussillon Fish & Seafood • Oysters • Anchovy • Sardines • Monkfish Cheeses • Crotin de Chèvre • Pélardon (goat milk) AOC • Perail • Tomme de cheeses (various) Fruits • Olives & Olive products • Red apricots from Roussillon • Almonds • Cherries from Céret – traditionally the first of the season • Figs • Peaches from Roussillon • Pears from Conflent • Grapes from Clermont. Hérault CA 204 French Regional Cuisine I. Languedoc Roussillon

I. Products of Languedoc - Roussillon Vegetables • Eggplants • Tomatoes • Pardailhan turnips • Camargue red rice –grown in the Rhone delta • Sweet onions of Cevennes – excellent for pickling • Cep Mushrooms • Girolle (Oyster) mushrooms CA 204 French Regional Cuisine I. Languedoc Roussillon

II. Languedoc – Roussillon - Cheeses Tomme is a generic name for a hard round cheese often produced in the mountains in various departwments of France. Tomme cheeses from southern France are made with untreated (raw) milk. Tomme cheese from the Pyrenees can be produced from goat, cows or sheeps milk. Pyrenees Tomme cheese is ripened for several months. Cow or goat’s milk cheeses are matured for 2 -3 months, sheep’s milk cheeses need minimum 3 months for development of flavor. Cow’s milk tomme (‘tomme de vache’) has a yellow colour, as cow‘s milk is rich in carotene. Goat’s milk and sheep’s milk tommes (‘tomme de chèvre’ and ‘tomme de brebis’) are paler in color. CA 204 French Regional Cuisine II. Languedoc Roussillon

II. Languedoc – Roussillon - Cheeses CA 204 French Regional Cuisine II. Languedoc Roussillon

II. Languedoc – Roussillon - Cheeses Crottin de Chevre Small goat milk cheese from Languedoc Crottin got its name from the cheese's shape being similar to a round oil lamp made of clay -called "petit crot". Another reason is that "crottin" is the French word for horse apple. CA 204 French Regional Cuisine II. Languedoc Roussillon

II. Languedoc – Roussillon - Olives, are cultivated throughout the Languedoc-Rousillon Region and are part of everyday life. Olives for table consumption, Oils but also for cosmetic products are an important industry. CA 204 French Regional Cuisine II. Languedoc Roussillon

II. Languedoc – Roussillon - Olives • The Picholine: small fruit, elongated and pointed at the end, color varies from pure green to yellow-green smooth skin flesh is fine, firm and delicious. originally from the Gard area, also grown in Aude. CA 204 French Regional Cuisine II. Languedoc Roussillon

II. Languedoc – Roussillon - Olives • The Lucques: dark green fruits, longish half-moon shaped, curved and with a pointed end Cultivated only in the west of Languedoc. Roussillon. Fine, firm, crisp flesh with a delicate flavor. • The Olivière: this variety is typical of the region It produces a complex fruity flavored oil Flavor notes: almond, hazelnut, with a light note of tomato CA 204 French Regional Cuisine II. Languedoc Roussillon

II. Languedoc – Roussillon - Olives CA 204 French Regional Cuisine II. Languedoc Roussillon

II. Languedoc – Roussillon - Olives Preparing for eating? Green olives, freshly harvested are very bitter. - - Firstly soaked for 24 hours in water with a small amount of powdered soda to remove the bitterness. CA 204 Rinsed twice for four hours, or for 8– 12 hours, until the water French is clear. Regional Now the olives can be stored in brine for 5 – 10 days and are Cuisine then ready to be eaten. II. Languedoc They can be stored in brine or be pasteurized Roussillon Flavoring herbs, garlic and spices are added at this stage. The four departments of the Languedoc-Roussillon produce almost 700 tones of olive oil a year, comprising 17% of French production. The Gard was awarded the Appellation d’Origine Controlée (AOC) label for quality in 2004 for its olive oil, and is currently applying for recognition of its table olives under the name “Olives de Nîmes”.

II. Languedoc – Roussillon - Olives Producing Olive Oil All olives are green to begin with, and turn black as they mature/ripen. In September harvesting of the green varieties begins. In October the Picholine olive is harvested and used directly in the kitchen. Starting November the fruit begins to turn yellow, and then darkening shades of red. At this stage the olive is harvested for the first olive oil. In mid November growth stops and the fruit is black. Some varieties can be harvested until January. CA 204 French Regional Cuisine II. Languedoc Roussillon

II. Languedoc – Roussillon - Olives Producing Olive Oil - Stages of Oil extraction 1. Removal of leaves and washing. The olives are then crushed together with their nuts, using millstones (also metallic), and then kneaded into a paste. 2. Pressing. The paste is spread on a piles of trays (scourtins) made of vegetable fiber or nylon, and then pressed. A mixture of oil and vegetable juice is squeezed out. This is often done with centrifuges. 3. Decanting. The oil rises to the surface, being lighter than the water. The oil is removed genlty with the help of a centrifuge. 4. Storage. The oil is labeled and stored away from light or CA 204 French Regional Cuisine II. Languedoc Roussillon

II. Languedoc – Roussillon - Olives Producing Olive Oil - Stages of Oil extraction 1. Removal of leaves and washing. The olives are then crushed together with their nuts, using millstones (also metallic), and then kneaded into a paste. 2. Pressing. The paste is spread on a piles of trays (scourtins) made of vegetable fiber or nylon, and then pressed. A mixture of oil and vegetable juice is squeezed out. This is often done with centrifuges. 3. Decanting. The oil rises to the surface, being lighter than the water. The oil is removed genlty with the help of a centrifuge. 4. Storage. The oil is labeled and stored away from light or CA 204 French Regional Cuisine II. Languedoc Roussillon

II. Languedoc – Roussillon - Olives Producing Olive Oil - Stages of Oil extraction 3. Decanting. The oil rises to the surface, being lighter than the water The oil is removed gently with the help of a centrifuge 4. Storage. The oil is labeled and stored away from light or heat to prevent oxygenation. Facts 5 -7 kg of olives produce 1 liter of olive oil 20% oil is typically part of an olive When the olive is black it produced the most oil CA 204 French Regional Cuisine II. Languedoc Roussillon

II. Traditional Dishes Meat and Seafood dishes Gardiane - Traditional bull stew Gigot de mer à la palavasienne - baked monkfish on tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and zucchini Bourride - Fish stew always served with aioli Bourride de Sete – monkfish in white wine and garlic with aioli Morue Catalane – salted cod stew with tomatoes and pepper CA 204 French Regional Cuisine II. Languedoc Roussillon

II. Traditional Dishes Meat and Seafood dishes Anchoïade – Anchovy dip with garlic and olive oil Pintade a la catalane- Catalonia turkey stew with onions thyme and white wine Tielle - southern seafood pie with flaky pastry Encornets farci – stuffed calamari with meat, egg, parsley and garlic in tomato sauce CA 204 French Regional Cuisine II. Languedoc Roussillon

II. Traditional Dishes CA 204 French Regional Cuisine II. Languedoc Roussillon

II. Traditional Dishes Vegetable dishes Aubergines a la tomate- eggplants with tomatoes Aubergines aux cepes- eggplants cooked with mushrooms Courgettes farci - Stuffed Zucchini Bread and Desserts Fougasse au Pignons- Flat bread with pine nuts, these days often flavored with herbs or similar Crème Catalane - cream with lemon, vanilla and fennel seed CA 204 French Regional Cuisine II. Languedoc Roussillon

II. Traditional Dishes CA 204 French Regional Cuisine II. Languedoc Roussillon

II. Traditional Dishes – Laboratory work • Pigeon breast wrapped in cabbage • Cod Brandade • • Stuffed squid “a la Setoise” CA 204 French Regional Cuisine • Tielle “a la Setoise” II. Languedoc Roussillon