Cuisine of Gascony

The Cuisine of Gasconny is one of the pillars of French cuisine. Its originality stems from its use of regional products and from an age-old tradition, typical of the Aquitane and the Midi-Pyrenees, of cooking in fat, in particular goose and duck fat, whereas the cuisine of the South of France favours frying in oil and the cuisine of Normandy contains more dishes that are simmered or cooked in butter. The long life expectancy of Gascons, despite a rich diet, is a classic example of the French paradox.

Main elements

The cuisine of Gasconny is characterised by the use of :

regional products such as duck fat and duck foie gras, salted ham, and the famous mild chilli of Gasconny
condiments : Bezolles mustard, garlic, persillade, onion…
mushrooms, in particular the cèpe mushroom
game, birds such as :
- the ortolan bunting, a small bird which must be overfed 15-20 days before being eaten. The ortolan is now a protected species - since 1999 it has been forbidden to capture or eat it.
- the lark, which is hunted by the placement of nets in fields and the use of decoys.
- the common wood pigeon, a migrating pigeon captured in nets
coastal sea food : such as oysters, peppery furrow shellss, eel elvers, lampreys, shads... and nowadays, the ’'creac (sturgeon) and Gironde caviar,
the sheep’s cheese of the Pyrenees
wine :
- clarets (rosés)
- tannic reds, the most important being Bordeaux wine (cabernets et merlot), but also Madiran wines (tannat et cabernets), the most tannic and well suited to the local food.
- dessert wines, ideal with brioche, chestnuts and foie gras, local to Bordeaux (Sauternes...) and Béarn (Jurançon AOC et Pacherenc),
côtes de Gascogne and Armagnac are used in cooking, and to flavour Tourtières.

Rural family gatherings will often include grilled chestnuts with a glass of vin bourru (sweet and in the process of fermentation, sold with no cork), as well as roste, grilled bread, rubbed with garlic or with tjonque (a sauce made from the leftover juices of pan-fried duck).

Gascon cuisine is able to adapt to new trends while retaining it’s identity: the use of duck breasts is the best example. The consumption of raw ham is also a modern tendency that has been embraced.

Soups

Garbure

Entrées

Foie gras, either candied or fried fresh in cutlet form
Landaise salad, which is characterised by its use of duck breast and gizzards
Smoked duck breast
Bayonne ham
Crépinettes of Bordeaux
Baby eels
Sanquette, a fried dish made from lamb blood, garlic, sweet onions, parsley and pancetta

Main course

Chalosse beef
Duck confit
Duck breast
Pigeon stew
Stew made from Gascon pig
Omelette using sweet Gascon chillies
Omelette using cep mushrooms (Boletus edulis)
Lampreys “à la Bordelaise” (cooked in a dark sauce, made from Lamprey blood)
“Tricandilles” (boiled porc tripe, grilled on a barbecue)
“Millas” a tart made from corn flour with a savoury accompaniment

Cheese

“Amou”, a sheep’s cheese, made in the region Amou

Desserts

“Pastis landais”, a cake flavoured with orange blossom, vanilla and rum
Canelés
Tourtière, a tart with apples or prunes
Croustade, decorated with puff pastry
“Cruchades”, fried corn cakes
“Millas” with sweet accompaniments

Bibliography

Rémy Constans, Gastronomie gasconne à la Belle Époque, Association De livres en livres, Bon-Encontre, 1998
Jean-Claude Ulian, Gascons à table, Art-Média, 2004