Lozère specialities

Cheese:

The Lozère has five different AOC products to itself. Suffice to say that the expertise has a prominent place in the lives of farmers and that industrialisation is not totally appreciated.
Cow's milk, sheep's and goat's milk is used in the preparation of cheeses with an exceptionally rich and well-defined flavour.

Roquefort in the south-west of Lozere is part of the AOC Roquefort area. A creamy texture but well bound, veined with blue or green. This cheese exudes a highly distinctive bouquet and has the most pronounced fine flavour.

Bleu des Causses: named after the area where it is manufactured, the Causses. Made from cow's milk, it is refined in natural caves. Its stiff curd is smooth and oily, with a strong bouquet with masses of character.

Laguiole. 60 municipalities of Aubrac, and the vast expanses of grass (Aveyron, Cantal Lozere &) form the production land of this cheese. The curd is pressed, smooth and straw-coloured. The finished cheese is the result of a refinement that lasts between 3 and 12 months.

Pélardon: A raw milk goat cheese that is emblematic of the Cevennes.
A strong often floral smell and a taste that leaves you a very pleasant nutty taste on the palate when it is young. A smooth and creamy texture.

Bleu d'Auvergne is best identified with the Massif Central, but its production area also covers the north of Lozere. Made with cow's milk, the cheese is veined and creamy with a very pronounced bouquet after four weeks of ripening. It has an intense and balanced taste and an aroma of blue.

There are many other types of cheese in Lozere, such as the many different Tommes de Lozère (cow and sheep). Among this great diversity, Fédou cheese is made exclusively on the Causse Mejean, from Lacaune sheep's milk which is refined for 3 or 4 days. It is considered a soft cheese - not to be missed.

Charcuterie (cured pork prooducts):

Cured pork products - sausages, bacon, ham and so on, honour the expertise of our area and a multitude of products made from the noble hog, all as tasty and filling as each other. Here is a short list of some of the specialities of our country...

Fricandeau is a typical dish of Lozere and the South of the Massif Central. Composed of a mixture of lean meat, fat and offal in proportions which vary according to family traditions, it is cooked in a pork caul, which gives it a special flavour.
It can be served hot but can also be eaten cold with vegetables (onions, pickles), or served with a salad and with a good crusty bread and red wine.

Lozère dry sausage consists exclusively of pure pork meat. The casings are natural. Meats are sorted, selected and prepared by hand.
Lozère sausage is no simple variant of the normal dry sausage. Each butcher has his expertise, his recipe, and each develops a unique product.
Like chorizo or saucisson, Lozère sausage can be eaten after more or less refining, may be soft or very dense, and can be kept for long periods unspoiled.
Traditionally dried wrapped around wooden poles, it is sold most often in short lengths, but it's up to you to ask for more coils. Thick or thin slices - each according to his taste.

Lozère herb sausage varies with the geographical area of Lozère.
It can be mixed with cabbage (in the north), potatoes, bread (Pays de Randon) and even silverbeet (a type of spinach) in the Lot Valley, the Causses and Cévennes.
The proportion of vegetable is normally around a third or more. The sausage is made exclusively with fat and lean pork, to the exclusion of all offal. The skin and seasoning are natural (salt, pepper, spices) with no dyes or additives. Boiled or roasted, is a lozerian family recipe, the only traditional preparation that combines vegetable and pork in one product.

Lozere dried ham: salting is done with dry salt, hand rubbed. Drying is carried out in the open air. Saltpetre and colourants are not used. You can present Lozere ham in many ways. Its strong flavour makes an ideal partner to melons and also in sandwiches with lots of butter. To be eaten quickly after slicing - it is a delicate product that deserves respect.

The mountainous country of the Lozère is a land of choice for drying and ripening. The craft of salting has developed more naturally here than elsewhere, and every craftsman, every family that raises and prepares pork adds a personal touch in terms of taste and tradition.

Besides these products there are many, many many more!

Truffade:

Ingredients for 4 people: 1 kg potato - 150 g smoked bacon - 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped - 400 g of fresh tomme cheese - parsley.

Peel and wash potatoes. Cut into regular slices, not too thick. Cook about 15 minutes in a large skillet with bacon and a big knob of butter. Stir regularly.
When the potatoes are almost cooked and golden brown, add chopped garlic, stir.
Then add the fresh Tomme thinly. The cheese will combine and mix with the potatoes to form a delicious melt.