I absolutely loved my trips to the French Périgord this summer, particularly the delicious home cooking shared at family mealtimes.
This particular region offers a wide variety of quality products. We cook with organic veal from Limousin, lamb, farm-reared chicken alongside the traditonal duck of the southwest and its "foie gras". Fine cheeses, full of character and the unmissable black truffles (truffes noires) should be added to this list. Our fruits, vegetables, jams are also organic sourced, directly from the family garden. The menu varies according to the season and whether the meal is based on a theme. Here are some of the delicacies you are likely to enjoy :
Local charcuterie, since «tout est bon dans le cochon» (every part of the pig is good for eating) e.g. le melsat, la bougnette, le boudin galabar and le foie sec (or «fetge» in Occitan, dried liver) which is fried until golden then mixed with radishes, onions and vinegar. The great French writer on gastronomy, Curnonsky, described this recipe as «bon éperon à boire» (something that will spur you on to take a glass or two) - it is a dish not intended those with delicate stomachs!
Fattened duck (le canard gras) of which there are many forms : magrets (duck breast), confits (traditional duck), rillettes (pâté of duck meat flakes) and especially select duck offal – heart, gizard and liver. There are so many ways of preparing foie gras (duck liver) … fresh, pan-fried with capers, with broadbeans and asperagus tips, with quince, with apple, figs, pears, lightly cooked in a terrine with whole salt crystals and just a little white pepper, wrapped in a cloth and cooked in stock ; there are as many possibilities to cook foie gras as many homes in the village.
A big chapter of the local gastronomy revolves around the cèpe mushrooms from the nearby forest (known as the 'cep' or 'penny bun 'in English).
Le cèpe, a true institution that gives rise to lies, gossip, fierce arguments or absolute secrecy during the mushroom season alongside chanterelles and other morels.
My love for this beautiful part of the world isn’t only dedicated to its magnificient gastronomy but also for its wines ; from a Bordeaux, a Bergerac to a Gaillac wine alongside some remote producers like in the small village of Branceilles at the very south of the Limousin region; The Vin de Branceilles, called as well Mille et Une Pierres, is a really rare and succulent Limousin wine which was renowned in the 19th Century and disappeared for a long time because of the phylloxera illness which destroyed a big part of the vineyard. The small part remaining did not produce such a good wine for years until a group of Limousin winegrowers decided to rebuild the vineyard and make the old fine wine reappear.Working hard and with passion they finally replanted 30 ha of vineyards in this area of France which is now producing 200,000 bottles of Limousin wine a year. Appreciated worldwide, this fine wine remains rare and can be expensive. You will appreciate its finesse and high quality which delivers a really interesting bouquet and will leave a long finish on your palate. These winegrowers of the Limousin created an amazing treasure.
But what I really really REALLY wanted to introduce you, is the respounchou (tamus communis), a wild plant that grows by the roadside in early spring. It can be eaten raw (in a salad) or cooked before being added to an omelette or pastas as shown on the pictures bellow...
Is it just bitter or is it a great delicacy ? Well, it really depends on the way you cook it! It was known as «the battered wives' plant» because of its properties in healing bruises when applied as a poultice and it was the highlight of my gastronomic discoveries this summer.
Here are some pictures I took from the roadsides to the plate:
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"Respounchou" from the Perigord roadsides to the plate by Jean Melin - Personal Chef Services
