In Lozère, reception looks like a reunion with
friends. Exchanges are rich and masters cook with the
accent of the sunny southern flavours. One-day guest,
you will discover, once in their hands, all the subtleties
and richness of the Lozère's specialities.
The territories of Mende, heart of Lozere
are a true invitation to the …
Among the numerous specialities, we suggest you to try: |
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Le croquant de Mende |
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An ancient tradition:
For many decades, Mende's bakers have developed a know-how
they transmit for generations: the craft making of the
croquant.
Small-elongated biscuit, it is made with almonds picked
in the past from the Gorges du Tarn's almond trees and
with hazelnuts from the hedges of Margeride and the Haute
Vallée du Lot.
This sweet is exclusively made at the bottom of the Mont-Mimat
and is knife cut before the baking. According to the recipe,
it can be soft or dry.
It can be keep a long time in a dry place and can go far
away. |
Our cheeses |
There are, only in Lozère, five Appellations contrôlées.
The know-how take a major part in farmers' life and industrialisation
is not for today.
So, caw, ewe and goat milks are used in the making of
these cheeses whose tastes are inimitable. |
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Le Roquefort:
Well-thicken smooth batter, streaked with bleu or green.
It lets out a particular smell with a strong and delicate
flavour.
Le Bleu des Causses: Its name comes from the area
in which it is made, Les Grands Causses (The Big Causses).
This cow milk-based cheese is refined in natural cellar.
The fat, smooth and thick batter, with a strong smell,
gives it some character.
Le Laguiole : Its land stretches over 60 council
towns of Aubrac, vast grassy areas. The straw yellow batter
of this cheese is pressed and smooth. It is the result
of three to twelve months of refining.
Le Pélardon: Unpasteurized goat milk-based,
it is the symbolic cheese of Cévennes. It has a
strong or floral smell and, when it is young, it has a
pleasant hazelnut taste thanks to its smooth and creamy
texture.
Le Bleu d’Auvergne: It comes from the Masif
Central but the area in which it is made is more or less
the North of Lozère. Caw milk-based and garnished
with chopped parsley, the batter is stiff and smooth and
has a strong smell from four weeks of refining. It has
an intense and balanced taste with a bleu aroma.
There are other kinds of cheeses in Lozère, as
for instance the Tomme de Lozère and the Fédou
which is exclusively made on the Causse Méjean.
This cheese, made of Lacaune ewe milk, is refined three
or four day and is considered as a soft and flourished
batter cheese. |
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La charcuterie (Cooked pork meats) |
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are the honour of the department's know-how because a
mass of produces, as tasty and generous as each other,
comes from it. Here is an exhaustive list of specialities
and other pâtés. |
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Le fricandeau: It is a typical dish of Lozère
and of the South of the Massif Central. It is a mixed
of lean, fat and offal of pork and it is cooked in the
pork's caul, which gives it a special flavour. It can
be served hot but also cold with vegetable (onion, gherkin)
or with salad, bread and red wine.
La saucisse sèche Lozérienne ("dry
sausage of Lozère"): It is made of pure pork
meat. Casing is natural. Meats are hand sorted, selected
and "dénervées". The saucisse
séche lozérienne is not simple variant from
the "saucisson" (sausage). Each pork butcher
has got his own know-how, recipe and makes a different
taste produce. Like the "saucisson", the saucisse
sèche lozérienne can be soft (not very refined)
or dense (very refined) and can be kept for a long time.
Traditionally continually dry, winded around wood rods,
it is sold most of the time with a fold but you are free
to ask several folds. Every one will eat it as he likes:
"troç" (piece) or thin slices.
La saucisse d’herbe Lozérienne ("sausage
with aromatic herbs of Lozère"): In North
Lozère, it is most of the time made with cabbage
or potatoes. In the south and particularly in the Vallée
du Lot and Cévennes, it is made with Swiss chard.
The vegetable part is 1/3 and often more. The sausage
meat is exclusively made of fat and lean of pork without
any offal. Casing and seasoning (salt, pepper, spices)
are natural; there is no colouring or additive. Boiled
or grilled, it is one of the family cooked pork meat specialities,
the only traditional recipe that combines vegetable and
pork meat.
Le jambon sec de Lozère (" dry ham
of Lozère "): Salting is made with dry salt,
the ham is hand rubbed and dries in the open air. There
is not any colouring or potassium nitrate. The ham can
be served in many ways. Its strong flavour will make you
discover the classical "melon au jambon" (melon
with ham) and the sandwich "jambon beurre" (ham
and butter).
Eat it quickly after slicing; the pleasure will be greater
because the jambon sec de Lozère is a dainty produce.
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| Lozère, land of mountains, is a favourite high
area for the drying and refining. The know-how of salting
has developed here more than anywhere else and each craftsman
gives his own touch.. |
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