According to Curnonsky: “The Rouergue is one of those lands blessed by a bounteous Nature, giving us a lust for life on this planet which Man is otherwise intent on making more and more uninhabitable”. For, indeed, this celebrated French “Prince of gourmets” had sampled the local traditional culinary specialities.
“A land blessed by a bounteous Nature“
The Aveyron has everything to offer even the most fastidious gourmet, from your local little inn to the famous restaurants featured in international guides.Like the Michel Bras ( 3 stars on Michelin guide) Restaurant in Laguiole.
Among the many cheeses are, of course , the famous Roquefort, made from ewe’s milk and often called the ‘cheese of kings and the king of cheeses’, and Laguiole, made from cows’ milk, or pérail de brebis or chèvre, made from goat’s or ewe’s milk.
Lunch or dinner in Aveyron is a guarantee of fresh quality products and finding the wonderful natural flavours of the past, in dishes that are prepared with great care and skill. If the art of eating well is a pleasure, the quality and origin of products is a serious matter. The Aveyron producers make it a point of honour to produce traditional regional products of impeccable quality.
You can be sure of the origin of the livestock. The meat, fruit and vegetables available will all combine to tempt your palate in a festival of colour and flavour. Meat lovers would not swap anything for a piece Aubrac beef, or veal from Ségala.
The department has an excellent reputation for good rich food with an amazing variety of recipes. The local products are famous for their flavour, and people travel a long way to come here and enjoy specialities like aligot (a rich puree made with Tomme cheese, butter and mashed potatoes-See below ), stuffed cabbage, tripous (sheep’s feet stuffed and folded up in pieces of sheep’s stomach), or estofinado (salt cod cooked in walnut oil).
Indeed, nature has very generously provided Aveyron with ingredients that are the joy of cooks and gourmets alike, for example trout, crayfish, ceps, leg of lamb, game, and cured pork and ham.
Not to mention Roquefort, that “cheese of kings and the king of cheeses“, which is on demand everywhere and plays a stake in the world trade market. (see the caves of Roquefort).
The excellent regional fine food of Aveyron is, like everything else in the Aveyron department, simple and in good taste, in harmony with the rhythms of local life and nature.In other words, pure good food !
Not for the finicky feeder! Portions of Aveyron cuisine are often vast, and the food is always genuine. Its origin is controlled and it is always of impeccable quality.
In Aveyron, a meal is not a meal without a traditional patisserie : Fouace (photo : fouace from Najac) cake flavoured with orange-flower water, almond croquants, échaudés à l’anis, Gateau a la broche (a cone-shaped cake cooked for several hours on a stick by the fire).
Followed by a liqueur or eau-de-vie brandy (walnut, quince or plum) to conclude the meal.