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The Lacaune Charcuteries (producers of cured meats).
The seven hills of the Monts de Lacaune recite a soothing, tempting, delicious litany: pork, ham, sausage… There, I was initiated into the art of curing meat. I would now recognise their exceptionally good products, which incite you to unreasonable temptation, amongst thousands of others. The majority carry the Label Rouge guarantee of quality, and they are conceived, composed and perfected by people whose talent is backed up by traditional know-how and an indispensable respect for Nature. Thousands of dry sausages and salamis rolled, tied and hanging on special frames made of hazel ; links of black pudding, ham and salt pork knuckles tied together in savoury bouquets, hundreds of hams snug in their cocoons of sea salt, preparing their miraculous metamorphosis… what a magnificent sight ! I’ll not forget it in a hurry. |
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L’ail Rose de Lautrec
Prince of condiments, the pink garlic of Lautrec has long been the ruler of this pleasant domain. It was already perfuming the markets of Albi, Castres and Mazamet in the early 1800’s. Grown within a strictly defined area, its first Label Rouge was awarded in 1966, and now 180 of the 400 Lautrec garlic producers enjoy this recognition. Blessed with particularly good keeping qualities (nearly a year), our prince, a paragon of elegance, is nevertheless very delicate. Every stage of production necessitates a large workforce of skilled, hardworking people. Removing the flowering heads, harvesting the garlic just at the right stage of maturity, removing all except the innermost skin before packaging, or making the traditional, highly decorative tresses of 12 or 24 heads plaited on to a stick (manouilles) all has to be done by hand.
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L’aligot de l’Aubrac
Fine, young white tome (if it wasn’t used for making aligot, after a few weeks it would turn into Laguiole cheese ! ), a proper potato purée and a little cream: these are the ingredients of aligot ; simple, good and without fancy flourishes, like the Aubrac itself. Try it whilst visiting a buron (a cheese-maker’s hut), as you look out over the wild , seemingly endless steppe-like landscape.
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Truffles
An intoxicating scent of truffles wafted over the market in Lalbenque, the biggest for truffles in the South-West, where people come to buy the "black diamond", worth its weight in gold, and found thanks to the dogs and pigs who sniff it out. In neat rows, the sellers duly awaited the signal to reveal the precious contents of their wicker baskets to the dealers. A price was scribbled on a scrap of paper, a hand closed over something: the business done, payment was in cash only, away from prying eyes. We felt that we had landed up in the middle of some secret ceremony. Truffles are cultivated in silence, for pleasure… except they’re not really cultivated at all, they are a gift from Nature to the Lot.
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Rocamadour cheeses
They smelt so good, they were so round and perfect: 6 cm in diameter, 1.5 cm thick, the skin marked with 4 stripes, tender, smooth and ivorycoloured. We wanted to give the praise due to the patient work of the Rocamadour cheese producers, to the years of effort and research devoted to quality, which resulted in the AOC classification being awarded in 1996, to each farmer’s unique skill, which gives every cheese its individuality, and also to the brown goats with long, curved horns who pasture on the vast, wild Causse de Gramat. A healthy, natural little cheese can’t do you any harm. Especially the Rocamadour, which, named for France’s most precipitous sacred site, has been keeping the locals on form since the 15th century and is made only from raw whole goats’ milk, then formed and ripened in accordance with the highest standards before being submitted to an extremely critical tasting panel.
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Roquefort cheese
Nature’s genius allied to human intelligence: that’s my definition of Roquefort, a prestigious cheese if ever there was one. A visit to the cellars where Roquefort is ripened will plunge you into a natural labyrinth, formed after the Combalou hills collapsed. Transformed into vast cellars ventilated by fleurines, little passages which allow air to circulate underground, from January to June they contain thousands of Roquefort truckles , watched over with loving care by the master cheese-makers.
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Wine
In the soft darkness of a cellar, the ebony and ruby colours of Cahors wine hold our gaze. Cahors…the greatest appellation of the SouthWest. With their aromas of red fruits, its power and smoothness, Cahors wines always have something different to offer. Delighted, with all our senses fully awake, we traced them from the splendid estates on the banks of the Lot to the domains proudly rooted in the white stone of the Causse.
As we approached Gaillac, we went through the bastide country of the Albi area, punctuated by umbrella pines and plump-bellied dovecotes. As refined as it is solidly structured, Gaillac wine is a star performer which, in its divine compositions, can boast of using specifically local grape varieties, red and white, such as le Braucol or le Len de l’El. Travelling a few hundred kilometres in my imagination, I come to the racks where the excellent Marcillac is reposing. Its history is inextricably linked with that of Conques abbey, that jewel of Romanesque art, and its vineyards, not far from Rodez, are set on clay slopes of an incredibly deep red.
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Saffron from Quercy
Registered Collective Trademark, awaiting Label Rouge status
Bringing an old tradition back to life, the revival of saffron-growing in the Lot is now well established. This "red gold" which is increasingly sought after, is meticulously cultivated and very delicate (about 200 fragile flowers are needed to obtain 1 single gram of dry saffron !). Saffron has been one of the world's most prized spices since ancient times, valued for its usefulness in dyeing, medecine and cooking. Most leading chefs have at least one saffron-based dish on their menu: this famous spice lends itself to all kinds of delightful combinations. |
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Parnac
Cave Coopérative de Parnac
Côtes d’Olt
 00 33 (5) 65 30 35 00
Caillac
Château La Grezette
00 33 (5) 65 20 07 42
Cieurac
Château de Haute-Serre
00 33 (5) 65 20 80 20
Lalbenque
Marché aux truffes le mardi à
14h00 de décembre à mi-mars.
Rocamadour
Ferme les Alix chez
M. Lacoste.
00 33 (5) 65 33 62 66
La Borie d'Imbert
00 33 (5) 65 38 87 76
 00 33 (5) 65 10 63 52
Ferme Les Campagnes
chez M. Salgues.
00 33 (5) 65 33 62 54
Martel
Moulin à l’huile de noix.
00 33 (5) 65 37 40 69
00 33 (5) 65 37 30 69
Souillac
La prune - Distillerie Louis
Roques
00 33 (5) 65 32 78 16
Lacaune les bains - Tarn
Maison de la Charcuterie
Musée du Vieux Lacaune.
00 33 (5) 63 37 04 98
00 33 (5) 63 37 03 01
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Lautrec
Classé "plus beaux villages de France".
Moulin à vent de laSalette ; Château de Malvignol.
00 33 (5) 63 75 31 40
Laguiole
Coopérative Fromagère
Jeune Montagne
00 33 (5) 65 44 35 54
00 33 (5) 65 44 47 57
Roquefort sur Soulzon
Roquefort Gabriel Coulet
place de l’Eglise
00 33 (5) 65 59 90 21
00 33 (5) 65 59 69 60
Société des caves et producteurs
réunis de Roquefort
00 33 (5) 65 58 58 58
ou 05 65 59 93 30
00 33 (5) 65 59 93 75
Caves Roquefort Papillon
Rue de la Fontaine
00 33 (5) 65 58 50 08
00 33 (5) 65 58 50 31
Gaillac
Maison du vin Caveau de dégustation
00 33 (5) 63 57 15 40
00 33 (5) 63 57 20 01
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Marcillac-Valady
Cave Coopérative des
Vignerons du Vallon
00 33 (5) 65 72 70 21
00 33 (5) 65 72 68 39
Production AOC Marcillac. Visite des chais. Présentation du fonctionnement de la coopérative. Vinification. Dégustation gratuite et vente. Ouvert toute l’année.
Philippe Teulier
Producteur Vins de Marcillac
00 33 (5) 65 72 71 77
00 33 (5) 65 72 6880
Visite des vignes et des caves. Dégustation gratuite et vente. Ouvert toute l’année sur rendez-vous.
Labastide de Lévis
Cave de Labastide
00 33 (5) 63 53 73 73
Cahuzac sur Vère
Domaine Très Cantous
00 33 (5) 63 33 90 40
Campagnac
Manoir de l'Emmeillé
00 33 (5) 63 33 26 63
Cajarc
Coopérative pour le Safran
La Codeval
Route de Gréalou
00 33 (5) 65 40 66 42
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Albi
• Restaurant L’Epicurien
42 Place Jean Jaurés
00 33 (5) 63 53 10 70
00 33 (5) 63 43 13 90
• Restaurant Le Lautrec
13 et 15 rue Toulouse Lautrec
00 33 (5) 63 54 86 55
00 33 (5) 63 54 86 55
• Restaurant L’Esprit du vin
11 quai Choiseul
00 33 (5) 63 54 60 44
00 33 (5) 63 54 54 79
• Restaurant le Clos Sainte Cécile
3 rue du Castelviel
00 33 (5) 63 38 19 74
• Restaurant La Table du Sommelier
20 rue Porta
00 33 (5) 63 46 20 10
00 33 (5) 63 46 20 10
• Hôtel Grand Hôtel d’Orléans***
Restaurant Le Goulu
Best Western
Place stalingrad
00 33 (5) 63 54 16 56
00 33 (5) 63 54 43 41
• Hôtel Restaurant La Réserve****
Relais et Châteaux
Route de Cordes
Tél : 00 33 (5) 63 60 80 80
00 33 (5) 63 47 63 60
Lacave
• Hôtel-restaurant Le Pont de L’Ouysse ***
00 33 (5) 65 37 87 04
00 33 (5) 65 32 77 41
• Hôtel-restaurant Le Château de la Treyne ****
00 33 (5) 65 27 60 60
00 33 (5) 65 27 60 70
Lamagdeleine
• Restaurant Chez Marco
00 33 (5) 65 35 30 64
00 33 (5) 65 30 31 40
Mercuès
Château de Mercuès****
00 33 (5) 65 20 00 01
00 33 (5) 65 20 05 72
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St Jean Lespinasse
• Hôtel Les Trois Soleils ***
Restaurant Les Prés de Montal
00 33 (5) 65 10 16 16
00 33 (5) 65 38 30 66
St Médard-Catus
• Restaurant Le Gindreau
00 33 (5) 65 36 22 27
00 33 (5) 65 36 24 54
Cordes sur Ciel
• Hôtel restaurant Le Grand Ecuyer**** (Châteaux et Hôtels de France)
79, Grand’rue Raimond VII
00 33 (5) 63 53 79 50
00 33 (5) 63 53 79 51
• Hôtel restaurant
Hostellerie du Parc**
Les Cabannes
00 33 (5) 63 56 02 59
00 33 (5) 63 56 18 03
Cahuzac sur Vère
• Hôtel restaurant Château de Salettes****
Châteaux et Hôtels de France
Lieu-dit Salettes
00 33 (5) 63 33 60 60
00 33 (5) 63 33 60 61
Saint Avit
• Restaurant Les Saveurs de Saint Avit
La Barraque
00 33 (5) 63 50 11 45
00 33 (5) 63 50 11 45
Lacaune
• Hôtel*** restaurant Fusies
Logis de France
2, rue de la République
00 33 (5) 63 37 02 03
00 33 (5) 63 37 10 98
• Hôtel** restaurant Calas
Logis de France
4, place de la Vierge
00 33 (5) 63 37 03 28
00 33 (5) 63 37 09 19
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Laguiole
• Restaurant Michel Bras***
Hôtel Relais et Châteaux****
Route de l'Aubrac
00 33 (5) 65 51 18 20
00 33 (5) 65 48 47 02
• Chez Auguy *
Grand hôtel Auguy***
Châteaux et hôtels de France
2, allée de l'amicale
00 33 (5) 65 44 31 11
00 33 (5) 65 51 50 81
Sorèze
• Les Collets Rouges
Restaurant - Abbaye-Ecole
00 33 (5) 63 74 44 80
00 33 (5) 63 74 44 89
Belcastel
• Hôtel-restaurant du Vieux Pont***
00 33 (5) 65 64 52 29
00 33 (5) 65 64 44 32
Sauveterre de Rouergue
• Le Sénéchal*
Hôtel restaurant Le Sénéchal***
00 33 (5) 65 71 29 00
00 33 (5) 65 71 29 09
Rodez
• Goûts et Couleurs
Restaurant - 38 rue Bonald
00 33 (5) 65 42 75 10
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 Click here for a full map. |
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 Cahors
00 33 (5) 65 53 20 65
Comité de Promotion des Produits du Lot
00 33 (5) 65 23 22 88
Union Interprofessionnelle des Vins de Cahors
00 33 (5) 65 23 22 24
Pays de Roquefort
00 33 (5) 65 58 56 00
Gaillac - Maison du Vin (Tarn)
00 33 (5) 63 57 15 40
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