CA 104 Regional French Cuisine

1. CA 104Regional French Cuisine Midi Pyrenees / Languedoc & Roussillon

2. Midi Pyrenees Midi-Pyrénées is best known worldwide for three local "products" that have achieved world fame: Airbus aircrafts, Roquefort cheese, and the Catholic pilgrimage center of Lourdes. This goes a long way into unveiling the extreme contrasts and diversity that exist within the région of Midi-Pyrénées.

3. Midi-Pyrenees forms a region in south-western France. It is bounded to the east by Languedoc-Roussillion, to the north by Auvergne and Limousin, to the west by Aquitaine and to the south by Spain. The Midi-Pyrenees region consists of eight departments: Ariege Aveyron Haute-Garonne Gers Lot Hautes-Pyrenees Tarn Tarn-et-Garonne With 2,70 million inhabitants and a surface area of 45,350 km², Midi-Pyrénées is the largest region of France, larger than the Netherlands or Denmark.

4. History in brief The Roman invasion (200 BC) was the first influence into the region of note.   Between the 3rd to the 5th century, the Alemanni, the Vandals and the Visigoths swept the region and Toulouse became capital of the Visigoth Kingdom.  801, Charlemagne marched into Spain / Catalonia and absorbed it into his Empire.  After his death, the Counts of Toulouse took control of seven cities and the Rouergue district, they launched great construction programs.  In the 1200s, the Cathar the University of Toulouse was created, and Perpignan became capital of the Kingdom of Majorca and the Balearic Islands.  In 1271 Toulouse came under French rule. In the 1300’s, the Quercy and Rouergue districts were ceded to the King of England and in 1659 Treaty of Pyrénées restored them to the French crown).   In 1484, the Kings of Navarre gained control of the Pays de Foix and Bigorre territories and held them until 1512, when King Ferdinand of Spain reclaimed them.  Both territories were returned to France in the 17th century. The Napoléonic era witnessed the discovery of the Pyrénées’ first thermal springs, which were transformed into full-fledged spa resorts under the Second Empire and the Third Republic.  During World War II, the Pyrénées proved to be of vital importance to the French Resistance movement.

5. Products - Midi Pyrenees • Truffles • Goose & Duck liver • Snail • Cod • Dried & Cured pork products from Lacaune – the pro salters of Lacaune have achieved the distinguished Red Label for their Pork products, But AOC status has not been achieved yet • Fruits • Melons of Quercy & Lectoure • Chasselas grape from Moissac – one of the rare fruits being given AOC status • Cheeses • Laguiole • Roquefort • Rocammadour • Pyrenean Tomme cheese • Bleu de Causses • Aquitaine • Jambon de Bayonne – Bayonne ham • Agneau de lait de pyrenee – Milk fed lamb from the Pyrenees (AOC)

6. Products of Midi Pyrenees – Duck & Gooseliver • Feeding and upbringing of duck and gees • Migratory birds in particular, naturally overfeed to endure winter and to fly long distances, and thus, stock fat in their liver.Man has copied this since 4000 years, to obtain foie gras. • A fattened liver is not a diseased liver: The livers show a lipidic excess (fatty liver) due to a rich feeding, without signs of degeneration. • If the fattened poultry is released, the fattened liver goes back to its initial weight, without any modification of its physiological functions.

7. Products of Midi Pyrenees – Duck & Gooseliver • Before being fattened, poultry are bred. • The one-day old birds are grown specially. • These young animals are paid particular attention related to ambient temperature and feeding. • Cramming, which lasts 2 or 3 weeks according to species, is done 2 or 3 times a day for geese. Corn is the best feeding food because on the one hand, of its high starch content (75%), and on the other hand, of its composition poor of certain enzymes permitting an important accumulation of lipids in the liver. • BenefitsIn 1978, Pr Serge RENAUD discovered the importance of some unsaturated fatty acids for prevention of cardiovascular diseases; this is the beginning of the « Paradoxe Français » channel. It was shown that in Toulouse, where people are big consumers of confit, goose or duck fat, the coronarian mortality is very low and the life expectancy very high. • Geese and duck products have a high polyunsaturated fatty acids content, which are organism protectors

8. Products of Midi Pyrenees – Truffles • Truffles from the Lot area of Mid Pyrenees have found it’s way onto the markets across France and the world. • Only about20% of the total truffle harvest of France (45% of the world wide production of approx. 20-30 metric tons per year) come from the Midi Pyrenees area with Lalbenque in Quercy being the most famous market in the area. • These "black diamonds" are harvested in orchards across the department each year between mid-November and mid-March. • The truffles typically grow beneath oak or hazel trees. • Traditionally, the harvesters use sows (pigs) to detect truffles beneath the soil. • This is because the scent of a ripe truffle is similar to the sexual odour of the wild boar. • The downside is that this scent drives the pigs into a sexual frenzy, and it can be as much work stopping them from eating the truffle as it is finding it in the first place.

9. Products of Midi Pyrenees – Snails Snails are an important product from France with approximately 40000 metric tonnes of snails being produced per year. Midi Pyrenees is one of the main production areas. There are three main varieties being produced the “petit gris” (small gray) the “gros gris” ( large grey) mainly as it is very difficult to produce the large Burgundy snail for profit. Reproduction : Snails are bred in cages at a density of 200 Petit-Gris or 100 Gros-Gris per m² filled with pots of a good soil. Ideally, these boxes are placed in a room which is kept at 20° Celsius with a relative humidity of 95%. Snails lay about 100 eggs after mating in soft soil. When a snail has laid, the pot is placed into an incubator at 20° C and covered. Three weeks later, about 100 new hatched snails appear under the lid. Usually, we can expect a yield of 70 young snails per breeder for 2 months.                         

10. Products of Midi Pyrenees – Snails After harvesting the snails need to be perched, as the content of their stomachs often contains toxic. Traditional Method :  After the escargot have passed a fasting period for 5 or 6 days in wooden boxes they are washed  in running water. Next they are put in a container layered with escargot a hand full of rock salt another layer of snails etc etc. The escargot will issue a lot of foam in what is called disgorging (perching) themselves. They are then washed again very carefully before scalding them with boiling water. After three days or the salt treatment above, the escargots are put into boiling water where they are left for three minutes after water is boiling again. Then they are removed from their shells. The hepatho-pancreas ("tortillon" in french) can be cut off or not depending on preference. Lovers of the Petit Gris prefer the entire escargot whereas it is preferable to remove it for the Gros Gris. The raw flesh is then put into cold salt water for 15 minutes. After they are rinsed again they are ready for cooking or freezing. Traditional cooking method The escargot flesh is cooked in Court Bouillon. You put it in fresh Court-Bouillon and heat progressively up to simmer for about 60 to 90 minutes.

11. Products of Midi Pyrenees - Cheeses • Roquefort • Considered by the French philosopher Diderot the "King of Cheeses“. AOC accredited since 193000000Ripened in the damp lime stone cellars of the French town of Roquefort. When the cheeses are being left uncovered for about three weeks in the caves, the specific penicillium roqueforti fungus is formed and spreads throughout the pastes.Roquefort cheeses are finally wrapped and stored for further maturing; about three months aging are necessary before the cheese reaches its maturity. • Rocamadour • made out from goat's milk from the Quercy Causses A.k.a "Cabécou de Rocamadour" - meaning "small goat's milk cheese" in Occitan - used as a trading currency for taxes in the 15th century. Made out with hot goat's milk, the Rocamadour has an ivory-colored creamy texture that melts in mouth. Produced according to strict rules: Goat herds may contain only ten goats per hectare and cheeses mature in authentic cellars without any chemicals.

12. Products of Midi Pyrenees - Cheeses • Laguiole • A AOC cheese produced exclusively forms raw (unpasteurized) Simmental or Aubrac cows milk, collected at the high altitude pastures of Aubrac. • It takes its name from the little village Laguiole where it traditionally has been made by monks. • Today, the coopérative Jeune Montagne produces the cheese exclusively in the regions of Aveyron Cantal and Lozère. They are the only ones who are licensed to produce this cheese. • 45% fat content, around 40kg per piece and with the name and the emblem of a cow stamped onto it, as well as by an aluminum identification plaque. • Its production process starts with renneting before the curd is pressed in two consecutive stages. Maturing takes at least six months and may be as long as twelve months. • The rind is natural and thick and the texture rich and creamy

14. Traditional Dishes of Midi Pyrenees • Cassoulet of Toulouse • White bean stew with bacon, lamb and Toulouse sausage • Garbure • Pyrenean, rich, thick soup. • Potatoes, cabbage, beans from Tarbes and dried, cured pork knuckle • Toulouse sausage • Gâteau à la broche (spit-roast cake) a thick batter is drizzled over an iron rod while being turned over an open fire

17. Traditional Dishes of Midi Pyrenees & Aquitaine • Anchovy leg of lamb • Poulet Basquaise • Confit of duck foie gras • Cassoulet of Toulouse • Garbure • Gâteau à la broche

18. Languedoc & Roussillon Departments: Aude, Gard, Hérault, Lozère and Pyrénées-Orientales (Rousillon) Major Cities: Nimes Carcassone, Montpellier Perpignan Climate: Mediterranean, sunny & dry

19. Languedoc-Roussillon is one most southern regions of France bordering on Spain and Andorra in the south and Midi Pyrenees in the west while the Mediterranean sea lines the east for most of its borderline. • The southern most parts of this region, the Roussillon part, is part of considered part of Catalonia which reaches as far south as Barcelona (Spain) . • Major Industries: • Agriculture: • Wine - Languedoc’s wine production area is 3 times the size of the Bordeaux area – Vin de pays d’oc • Fruits and Vegetables – Preserves – established with the opening of the Bas-Rhone irrigation canal • Honey • Olives • Fish and shellfish farms • Tourism • Due to the beaches of the Mediterranean sea • Tech Industry • IBM, Dell and Palm all have significant factories in Languedoc

20. History in brief Greek navigators plied the coast of Languedoc-Roussillon in ancient times and set up trading posts. 600 BC, they introduced grapevines to the area. In 121 BC, the Romans invaded the region: they built the Via Domitia, a passage from Italy to Spain, founded Narbone. and built the 35-mile long aqueduct that carried water from the region’s uplands to Nîmes. The Middle Ages gave way to a long period of instability.  By the end of the 12th century, a breakaway religious sect, the Cathars, spread throughout the southern part of the region, in defiance of the Roman Catholic church. ideology.  In the 13th century, Montpellier and Perpignan prospered under the rule of the Kings of Majorca, who later sold the two cities and the Roussillon to the French crown. In the 17th and 18th century, there dawned a new era of peace and prosperity started to built in the Languedoc Rousillon region. Rousillon The Romans conquered Roussillon against the Iberians. In 752-759 Pépin le Bref reincorporated Roussillon to the reunified Gaul (752-759). In the following centuries Rousillon was always being considered a catalonic land and changed frequently rulers from the king of Aragon and Mallorca and various French kings until in 1659, Louis XIV definitively incorporated Roussillon to France by the treaty of Pyrénées.

21. Cuisine of Languedoc – Roussillon • The recipes are based on olive oil, garlic and basil, this cuisine is typically flavored with herbs of the Provencal garrigue (scrubland) such as thyme, rosemary, bay, savory… • Fresh fish is caught daily in the Mediterranean sea • The phrase à la languedocienne means garnished with garlic, tomatoes, aubergines and cèpes (mushrooms). • A la catalan indicates a rich tomato sauce.   • Olive oil is a basic element of Mediterranean cooking.

22. Products – Languedoc - Roussillon • Fish & Seafood • Oysters • Anchovy • Sardines • Monkfish • Cheeses • Crotin de Chèvre • Pélardon (goat milk) AOC • Perail • Tomme de cheeses (various) • Vegetables • Eggplants • Tomatoes • Pardailhan turnips • Camargue red rice – grown in the Rhone delta • Sweet onions of Cevennes – excellent for pickling • Cep Mushrooms • Girolle (Oyster) mushrooms • Fruits • Olives & Olive products • Red apricots from Roussillon • Almonds • Cherries from Céret – traditionally the first of the season • Figs • Peaches from Roussillon • Pears from Conflent • Grapes from Clermont-Hérault

23. Products of Languedoc - Roussillon - Cheeses • Tomme • Tomme is a generic name for a hard round cheese often from the mountains. • Tomme cheeses from southern France are made with untreated (raw) milk. • The Pyrenees Tomme cheese is ripened for several months. • It can be made with milk from goats, cows or sheep. • Tomme made from cow’s milk or goat’s milk is matured for 2-3 months, but it takes a minimum of 3 months for sheep’s milk tomme to develop its flavour • Their colors are slightly different: cow’s milk tomme (‘tomme de vache’) has a yellow colour, as cow‘s milk is rich in carotene. Goat’s milk and sheep’s milk tommes (‘tomme de chèvre’ and ‘tomme de brebis’) are paler. • Crottin de Chevre • Small goat milk cheese from Languedoc Crottin got its name from the cheese's shape being similar to a round oil lamp made of clay -called "petit crot". Another reason is that "crottin" is the French word for horse apple.

25. Products of Languedoc - Roussillon – Olives

26. Products of Languedoc - Roussillon - Olives • The miraculous olive • Olives, olive oils and cosmetic products all highlight the remarkable properties of the olive, which have been recognized for thousands of years. • The most cultivated olives in the region are: • The Picholine: a small fruit, elongated and pointed at the end, hardy, originating from the Gard area but also grown in Aude. • Its color varies from pure green to yellow-green, its skin is smooth and its flesh is fine, firm and delicious. • The Lucques: the dark green fruit is shaped like an elongated half moon, curved and with a pointed end. It is cultivated only in the west of Languedoc-Roussillon. Its flesh is fine, firm and crisp, with a delicate and unique flavor. • The Olivière: this variety is typical of the region. It produces an oil with a complex fruity flavor: almond, hazelnut, with a light note reminiscent of the tomato

27. All olives are green to begin with, and turn black as they mature/ripen. From September harvesting of the green varieties begins. In October the Picholine is harvested for use directly in the kitchen. At the beginning of November the fruit begins to turn yellow, and then darkening shades of red. At this stage the olive is harvested for the first olive oil. From mid November growth stops and the fruit is black. Harvesting of some varieties continues until January.Stages of Oil extraction1. Removal of leaves and washing, then crushing and kneading. The olives are crushed together with their nuts, using millstones (also metallic) then kneaded resulting into a paste.2. Pressing. The paste is spread on a pile of trays (scourtins) made of vegetable fiber or nylon, and then pressed. The mixture of oil and vegetable juice is squeezed out. This is often done with centrifuges.3. Decanting. The oil rises to the surface, being denser than the water. Removing the oil is very slow, often done by centrifuge.4. Storage. The oil is labeled and stored away from light or heat to avoid oxygenation.Facts 5-7 kg of olives produce1 liter of olive oil20% oil is typically part of an olive When the olive is black it produced the most oil

28. How are olives prepared for eating? Green olives are very bitter. At least 24 hours after harvesting, they are soaked in water with a small amount of powdered soda to remove the bitterness. Then they are rinsed twice for four hours at a time, or for 8 – 12 hours, until the water is clear. At this point the olives can be stored in brine for 5 – 10 days. They are then ready to be eaten, and can be kept in the brine or be pasteurized. Herbs and garlic are often added at this stage.The four departments of the Languedoc-Roussillon produce almost 700 tones of olive oil a year, comprising 17% of French production. The Gard was awarded the Appellation d’Origine Controlée (AOC) label for quality in 2004 for its olive oil, and is currently applying for recognition of its table olives under the name “Olives de Nîmes”.

29. Traditional Dishes of Languedoc Roussillon • Meat and Seafood dishes • Gardiane - Traditional bull stew • Gigot de mer à la palavasienne - baked monkfish on tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and zucchini • Bourride - Fish stew always served with aioli • Bourride de Sete – monkfish in white wine and garlic with aioliMorue Catalane – salted cod stew with tomatoes and pepperAnchoïade – Anchovy dip with garlic and olive oilPintade a la catalane- Catalonia turkey stew with onions thyme and white wine • Tielle - southern seafood pie with flaky pastry • Encornets farci – stuffed calamari with meat, egg, parsley and garlic in tomato sauce

31. Traditional Dishes of Languedoc Roussillon • Vegetable dishes • Aubergines a la tomate- eggplants with tomatoesAubergines aux cepes- eggplants cooked with mushroomsCourgettes farci - Stuffed Zucchini Bread and Desserts • Fougasse au Pignons- Flat bread with pine nuts, these days often flavored with herbs or similar • Crème Catalane - cream with lemon, vanilla and fennel seed

33. Traditional Dishes of Languedoc Roussillon • Pigeon breast wrapped in cabbage • Cod brandade • Stuffed squid a la setoise • Tielle a la setoise • History of these dishes • Regional origin • Meaning of “Setoise” • Ingredients of dishes