Appreciating the underappreciated
Southwestern France is where in-the-know Europeans go.
If I could distil a week of road tripping through southwestern France to one morsel, it would be a friton. Crackly crisp and intensely savoury, it’s everything expected from crunchy duck skin that’s been salt-cured and fat-rendered — and more.
The rural Gascon delicacy is typically enjoyed as croutons or a bar snack, but I’m standing in the middle of Place Carnot, La Bastide Saint-Louis of Carcassonne’s bustling central square, lapping at the golden crumbs scraped from the now-empty case at La Ferme du Roc.
The duck producer’s stall is in the farmers’ market I’m touring with Cristelle Lucchese of La Fille du Midi. We’re metres below the fortified city’s medieval citadel, but I’m overwhelmed by the abundance of regional produce and specialties, including Petit Carcassonnais, the tiny, brick-shaped cakes by the Boulangerie-Pâtisserie Fuster.
Our walking feast concludes with bites of Rémi Touja’s heavenly, award-winning cake, Satin. As a food obsessive, I’m awestruck by the treasures I’m tasting, especially given the general lack of attention on this part of the world.
I’m in Occitanie/Pyrénées-Méditerranée, an underappreciated region distinguished by its unspoiled landscapes, varying microclimates, friendly denizens and impressive gastronomy. Created from the 2016 unification of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées, the region’s 13 departments lie between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, and between the Massif Central and Pyrénées mountain ranges.
“This is where in-the-know European vacationers travel to, without the crowds and inflated prices of Provence and the French Riviera,” Nicolas Galy, fine wines director of Gérard Bertrand, tells me at the winemaker’s popular annual Jazz à l’Hospitalet Festival. Held near Narbonne in the La Clape massif, it’s close to some of the country’s nicest beaches, blessed by the region’s 300plus sun-soaked days a year.
Subscribing to the belief that food is the best way to learn about another culture, I’m here in Occitanie to take a multi-stop journey through Aude, Haute-Garonne, Tarn-et-Garonne and Gers. Surrounded by high plains and sweeping hillsides patchworked by golden sunflower fields, the trip will wind past vestiges of castles, Gothic cathedrals and Romanesque churches along UNESCO-classified St. James’ Way, threading through charming medieval villages and cities.
Occitanie is France’s leader in organic farming, known for producing superior produce, as I soon see first-hand. At Valence d’Agen’s sprawling farmers’ market, I spot tables overflowing with plump orchard fruits and vibrant vegetables — most grown in the rich soils of Tarn-et-Garonne — and find giant pans brimming with paella, fresh truffle vendors and charcutiers hawking foie gras saucisson.
I’m charmed by Auvillar, considered one of the most beautiful villages in France; the former port district is a stopover on the road to Santiago de Compostela, situated by the banks of the mighty Garonne River.
Here, even modern grocery markets, like the one across from the Gallo-Roman city’s restored Church of St. Peter, hold treasures, as I snap up a bag of tree-ripened Roussillon red apricots. At neighbouring orchard-vineyard Les Vignerons du Brulhois, I’m given a sundrenched Reine-Claude plum plucked from its branches and must resist the desire to smuggle a seed of the juicy regional fruit home.
Near Montauban, at La Ferme du Ramier’s annual Fête du Goût et des Saveurs, I encounter le gâteau à la broche — a traditional conical cake from the Massif Central, made by slowly layering batter on a rotating spit over wood fire. I devour velvety aligot (garlicky mashed potatoes with melted cheese and cream), succulent stewed petit-gris escargots and other regional treats, while roaming the cheese farm festival’s 50plus local producer stalls.
If great food depends on quality ingredients, then it’s easy to see how gourmands can dine well, and dine often, in Occitanie. More surprising, however, is how (relatively) affordable such experiences are in this gem of a region — even when enjoying the multi-course extravaganzas at Occitanie’s 53 Michelin-recognized establishments.
At Le Cénacle in Toulouse, I’m introduced to delicacies like the Spéciale Tarbouriech, an exceptional fleshy pink oyster grown in Marseillan using a method that mimics solar tides. The Michelin-starred restaurant’s chef, Thomas Vonderscher, poaches the bivalve, then serves it in its shell with smoked salmon tartare and iodized cream.
In the garden of Carcassonne’s twostarred La Table de Franck Putelat, I meet toothsome Castelnaudary beans topping a refined croque-monsieur starter, a perfect bite that’s filled with mild mozzarella from Corbières and blanketed with aromatic shaved summer truffles.
Instead of rounds of golf on Relais & Châteaux Hôtel Domaine d’Auriac’s greens, I dine at their one-starred restaurant, Bernard Rigaudis. Here, chef Philippe Deschamps finishes sea bass with a butter made with Crémant de Limoux — the world’s oldest sparkling wine from nearby Limoux.
Nature meets contemporary comfort at Auch’s tranquil Michelin Green Starrecognized Domaine de Baulieu, where its sustainably driven restaurant showcases goods from surrounding farms, like poached Gers foie gras with jammy, flame-cooked peach bathed in ethereal garlic mousse, apricot jus-glazed duck breast sided by a crisp friton soldier, or Gers strawberries served as curd, berries and sorbet.
When I finally reach Toulouse, I roam Victor Hugo Market with Taste of Toulouse founder Jessica Hammer, savouring our way through the wares of craftsmen who have won the prestigious Meilleurs Ouvriers de France title. I’m fascinated with the varieties lining Xavier Fromagerie’s inviting displays, from the Pyrénées sheep’s and goat’s milk cheeses to a six-month-aged, raw cow’s milk cheese, Pavé Toulousain.
Hammer, an ex-cheesemonger herself, introduces me to the incredible ParisToulouse choux pastry from Pâtisserie B.Authié, an ode to both the classic Paris-Brest and Toulouse’s reputation as the City of Violets. Topped with roasted hazelnuts and candied violet petals, the treat is filled with violet-flavoured mascarpone Chantilly and praline.
I swoon over le gâteau du Fénétra, a delightful Toulousian coffee cake from La Bonbonnière, which fills a buttery shortcrust with apricot jam, candied lemon and almond cake, and revel in award-winning chocolate maker Bello & Angeli’s fresh homemade ice creams and sorbets.
The lingering flavours leave me wishing every food adventure could be like an Occitanie friton: unassuming, accessible and utterly delicious. Another bite can’t come soon enough.