Vacation Souvenirs from the South of France Bought by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
You never have to worry about coming home to a house empty of food after a vacation to the South of France if you plan correctly. You could outfit another trip with the vacation booty you can pick up at grocery stores and gas stations, which sell “produits regionaux,” or regional products, along the way.
On my family’s recent trip to the French Catalan region by the Mediterranean (Rousillon), we brought home cassoulet, duck confit thighs, nut cakes, powdered sugar cookies, and Catalan touron. Each of these delights comes with a little story. I will begin my autoroute, or highway, tale with cassoulet.
Everyone agrees that cassoulet is bean stew. However, there are three ways to prepare it reflecting styles from the cities of Castelnaudary (pictured), Carcassonne (pictured), and Toulouse.
The Old Foodie Blog featuring a A Food History Story and Recipe Every Weekday of the Year summarizes the differences among the three different cassoulet styles using the French version of Larousse Gastronomique as a source.
Cassoulet bean stews feature these ingredients by city:
Castelnaudaray:
pork
ham
knuckle of pork
fresh bacon rinds
Carcassonne:
The same ingredients as Castelnaudary cassoulet plus
shortened leg of mutton
partridges in season
Toulouse:
The same ingredients as Castelnaudary cassoulet plus
breast of pork
mutton (neck or boned breast)
confit d’oie (preserved goose) or confit de canard (preserved duck)
My favorite cassoulet is from Toulouse with confit de canard (preserved duck). We bought several cans of it including a Toulouse one parading as Castelnaudary with confit de canard. (It’s sold to tourists and still tasted good.)
We bought confit de canard from Périgourd just in case we want to make our own cassoulet. It takes several hours to boil the beans depending on their age. (Older beans are drier and harder.) Once the beans are sufficiently soft, you then bake them with the confit and other ingredients until the beans become really, really soft, but do not lose their shape.
Or, you can heat the confit de canard and eat it with steamed potatoes and green beans. A red Bordeaux or Cahors wine goes well with the confit de canard thighs like the ones we purchased.
Another goodie purchased along the highway was the package of nut cakes we bought from Rocamador. Rocamador sits perched high above the Dordogne River. It houses a sanctuary for a Black Madonna pilgrimage site.
We did not visit Rocomador. You could never reach your destination in France, if you want to visit all the sites advertised by brown tourism panels along the highway.
We did eat the Rocomador cakes made from chestnuts, walnuts, and hazelnuts. The nuts are ground into flour. The nut flour replaces wheat flour in making the cakes. The cakes had a good flavor, but were somewhat dry and crumbly in the hot weather.
As we entered Rousillon (French Catalonia), we bought rousquilles de Rousillon. These are ring cookies coated in powdered sugar that melt in your mouth. Rousquilles remind me of powdered sugar donuts that have longer staying power.
Rousquilles de Rousillon are a Catalan specialty from the Franco-Spanish border area. They are flavored with vanilla, lemon, and anis. The cookie itself is made with flour, egg, and honey.
Catalan touron, a popular Christmas candy, tastes good in summer, too. It is made with honey, almonds, and anis. It is a nougat, which reminds me of divinity fudge. The more almonds you have the better the quality.
We did not save any touron for Christmas. We ate it after vacation as a last vestige of lazy days at the beach and tours through Catalan towns. Like the French, though, we hoard our little cans of vacation booty confit de canard and cassoulet for the winter months.
By Ruth Paget, Author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Click here for: Ruth Paget's Amazon Books
You never have to worry about coming home to a house empty of food after a vacation to the South of France if you plan correctly. You could outfit another trip with the vacation booty you can pick up at grocery stores and gas stations, which sell “produits regionaux,” or regional products, along the way.
On my family’s recent trip to the French Catalan region by the Mediterranean (Rousillon), we brought home cassoulet, duck confit thighs, nut cakes, powdered sugar cookies, and Catalan touron. Each of these delights comes with a little story. I will begin my autoroute, or highway, tale with cassoulet.
Everyone agrees that cassoulet is bean stew. However, there are three ways to prepare it reflecting styles from the cities of Castelnaudary (pictured), Carcassonne (pictured), and Toulouse.
The Old Foodie Blog featuring a A Food History Story and Recipe Every Weekday of the Year summarizes the differences among the three different cassoulet styles using the French version of Larousse Gastronomique as a source.
Cassoulet bean stews feature these ingredients by city:
Castelnaudaray:
pork
ham
knuckle of pork
fresh bacon rinds
Carcassonne:
The same ingredients as Castelnaudary cassoulet plus
shortened leg of mutton
partridges in season
Toulouse:
The same ingredients as Castelnaudary cassoulet plus
breast of pork
mutton (neck or boned breast)
confit d’oie (preserved goose) or confit de canard (preserved duck)
My favorite cassoulet is from Toulouse with confit de canard (preserved duck). We bought several cans of it including a Toulouse one parading as Castelnaudary with confit de canard. (It’s sold to tourists and still tasted good.)
We bought confit de canard from Périgourd just in case we want to make our own cassoulet. It takes several hours to boil the beans depending on their age. (Older beans are drier and harder.) Once the beans are sufficiently soft, you then bake them with the confit and other ingredients until the beans become really, really soft, but do not lose their shape.
Or, you can heat the confit de canard and eat it with steamed potatoes and green beans. A red Bordeaux or Cahors wine goes well with the confit de canard thighs like the ones we purchased.
Another goodie purchased along the highway was the package of nut cakes we bought from Rocamador. Rocamador sits perched high above the Dordogne River. It houses a sanctuary for a Black Madonna pilgrimage site.
We did not visit Rocomador. You could never reach your destination in France, if you want to visit all the sites advertised by brown tourism panels along the highway.
We did eat the Rocomador cakes made from chestnuts, walnuts, and hazelnuts. The nuts are ground into flour. The nut flour replaces wheat flour in making the cakes. The cakes had a good flavor, but were somewhat dry and crumbly in the hot weather.
As we entered Rousillon (French Catalonia), we bought rousquilles de Rousillon. These are ring cookies coated in powdered sugar that melt in your mouth. Rousquilles remind me of powdered sugar donuts that have longer staying power.
Rousquilles de Rousillon are a Catalan specialty from the Franco-Spanish border area. They are flavored with vanilla, lemon, and anis. The cookie itself is made with flour, egg, and honey.
Catalan touron, a popular Christmas candy, tastes good in summer, too. It is made with honey, almonds, and anis. It is a nougat, which reminds me of divinity fudge. The more almonds you have the better the quality.
We did not save any touron for Christmas. We ate it after vacation as a last vestige of lazy days at the beach and tours through Catalan towns. Like the French, though, we hoard our little cans of vacation booty confit de canard and cassoulet for the winter months.
By Ruth Paget, Author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Click here for: Ruth Paget's Amazon Books
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| Ruth Paget Photography |
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| Carcassonne - Laurent Paget Photography |
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| Castelnaudary - Laurent Paget Photography |
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| Ruth Paget Selfie |
