Toulouse and its region

I took advantage of a stay in Toulouse to discover the local specialties of the region. This is of course not exhaustive but you will have a small taste of what is delicious to taste!

So here I am this time in Toulouse, the “Ville Rose”! It’s time for me to hit the streets in search of the grocery store I’m looking for!

Here I am at the “Paradis Gourmet”, a salty grocery store where the owner received me. She has another grocery store called “Paradis Gourmand” which deals with sweet foods.

There are of course the inevitable “Violettes de Toulouse”, small flowers crystallized in sugar

The grocery store is really well organized and pretty to look at!

All the specialties based on violets are present!

You can also find all the cassoulets, foie gras, oils and vinegars possible!

There is a wide choice of spices, really wide!

And also a curious little bottle of violet sugar!

Small tour in the city and also the Saint Sernin basilica.

Nothing to do with food but the interior of the basilica is worth the trip, among other things for its pink color.

The next day, visit to Albi (classified since August 1st, 2010 as a world heritage site). Direction its market open in the morning…

It was here that I discovered the region’s pink garlic.

And the cake on the spit. It is a kind of dough (without yeast) that is poured on a cylinder that turns near the fire. We then add the successive layers of cake! This cake can be found all over Europe… It is also found in France in Aubrac and in the Pyrenees.

There is also the very delicious “fouace” which is a very dense brioche with orange blossom.

And other dried fruit buns.

At noon, lunch break before attacking the Toulouse-Lautrec museum, with a cassoulet. I think everyone knows this rich dish based on beans (formerly with broad beans!), sausages and duck confit! Everything blends together to form a dense dish and a fatty, creamy sauce. The dish is ready when the 7 skins have formed and the wooden spoon is standing upright!

There are also “pastels”, small chocolates filled with curaçao and orange liqueur. The result is a pastel color that recalls the color that made the region rich!

I’ve obviously been to a foie gras store and I must admit I was pleasantly surprised by the quality where there are many tourists.

I bought a foie gras that turned out to be delicious!

You can find everything good in the duck! Raw liver and duck breast.

The next day again, a visit to Cordes sur ciel with the complete visit of the Andrieu pastry shop (you can see the whole “culinary journey” entirely dedicated to this house by clicking
here
) and its delicious croquants!

At noon, I continue with a speciality, aligot with a sausage from Aveyron! The aligot is a purée with fresh tomme and sometimes cream.

In this beautiful city, you can find all kinds of stores selling local specialties.

We can also find the Sugar Museum, which showcases the imaginative creators who handle cooked sugar with impressive dexterity.

There are also chocolate sculptures!

The Laguiole workshop is also located in Cordes sur Ciel…

Finally, a small presentation of a flower that never ceases to impress me, the sunflower! There are sunflower fields everywhere and I must admit that I didn’t even know how the sunflower seeds used to make oil grow! The sunflower blooms…

Then under the weight of the seeds the flower leans towards the ground and starts to dry.

And the inside of the flower contains all the seeds. There is an impressive amount! The seeds are implanted according to the mathematical sequence of Fibonacci…