Tarn Gastronomy

Tarn cuisine is particularly healthy. Tarn specialties are mainly made up of good vegetables from the Tarn plain, charcuterie from the Monts de Lacaune and the Gaillac wine region. We take you to discover the Gastronomy of the Tarn, with a Top 10 of the best Tarn dishes.

Opening photo © AlexanderD / AdobeStock

1) A Quercy melon, accompanied by a Lacaune ham

We start our taste tour, in all simplicity, with a melon with ham. But not just any of course. A Quercy melon, ripe, juicy and sweet, served with Lacaune country ham. Melon cultivation is highly developed throughout Quercy, particularly in Tarn, Tarn-et-Garonne and Lot-et-Garonne. You will find it on all the markets and in the restaurants of the Tarn.

2) Tarn truffle brouillade

Tarn truffle brouillade is a dish of excellence in simplicity! The black Quercy truffle is a rare and difficult to find mushroom, but it will enhance any recipe. Its association with eggs is always a success! We tell you more about this ingredient of choice…

3) Tourin with garlic from Lautrec

Tourin à l'ail de Lautrec is a traditional garlic soup. For the cook, it's childish: broth, eggs and garlic from Lautrec, of course! Decorated with hard bread, vermicelli, or served with croutons, melted cheese... Each family has its recipe and you surely won't have two alike.

4) Onion soup from Lescure

In line with Tourin garlic, Lescure onion soup is one of the ancestral customs of the Tarn. It is regularly served the day after parties, to recover from a long evening. It is also a tradition to wear it to newlyweds after their wedding night. It is the antioxidant properties of onion that are beneficial. A good chicken broth, Lescure onions and a few herbs are enough to make it.

5) A Respounchous pie

With such a name, of course, we are in the Tarn! Respounchous are simply wild asparagus, found in the region of the old Rouergue and especially near Cordes-sur-Ciel. They can be eaten in many forms: in a salad, in a gratin, but also in a pie. It is indeed the respounchous pie that is the most famous. They arise in the spring, on mounds and embankments, and they often line country roads. Their size varies from about 5 to 8 centimeters. But be careful, we only eat the young shoots.

6) An Albigensian stew

The Albigensian pot-au-feu is a real festive dish from the Tarn. As in the classic pot-au-feu, there are vegetables and long-cooking beef, including chuck and scoter. But what distinguishes the Albigensian version is what is added to it. In meat, duck or goose legs to give it more indulgence. And instead of potatoes, white beans are used.

7) Chichoulet du Tarn

It is called the “chickpea cassoulet”. It must be said that the two dishes are very similar. Chickpeas are an unknown production from the Tarn, but they are delicious! Surprisingly, they combine divinely with duck confit. Some say that Chichoulet is the ancestor of Cassoulet. It's hard to say, as the two recipes have coexisted for a long time...

8) The Fréginat

Fréginat is a wild boar fricassee with white beans. It is a typical dish of the Massif des Corbières. The recipe is not difficult to make. You cook white beans in tomato coulis and duck fat. Wild boar can be replaced with pork. You brown it, before letting it simmer in the beans. It is a farm dish, very hearty and convivial.

9) Melsat

Melsat is a very old delicatessen from Occitania, reminiscent in shape of a cervelat. It's made from pork offal such as spleen or liver, as well as minced bread, egg and spices. The recipes for the “city” or “country” versions may vary, but the principle remains the same: concoct what used to be called the poor man's dish. Melsa has several meanings in Occitan. Some translate it as “spleen”, while others derive it from the word mesclare, meaning “mixture”. Nowadays, the recipe has been modernized and it's more like other white puddings, made with bread and eggs. You can eat it hot or cold, and you'll find it at every good charcutier in the Tarn.

10) Albigensian tripe

Albigensian tripe is a classic tripe. But in Albi, it's the way of decorating them that makes them incomparable. They are cooked with onion, capers, garlic and parsley, but especially Saffron from the Tarn. And it is this last ingredient that makes all the difference. It is typical of the Montagne Noire and has been used since the 15th century!

To finish, a Tarn dessert: Le Mesturet

We can't leave you without a sweet note to end this banquet of delicacies from the Tarn. Le Mesturet is a pumpkin cake. It is flavored with rum and lemon zest. It's a winter dessert, when the fruits were starting to run out, because the pumpkin keeps for a long time!

And a drink to accompany it all: Le Vin de Gaillac

Gaillac wines are renowned for their authenticity. This vineyard flourishes on the wine-growing hillsides and in the plains around the Tarn.

We hope to have made you want to taste the gastronomy of the Tarn and wish you good appetite!

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