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Explore France Holiday Guides Lot-et-Garonne Gourmet delights
| Gourmet delights |
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| Wednesday, 28 February 2007 | |
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Most of the country’s goodies thrive in the Lot-et-Garonne’s climate and fertile soil. Louis XIII enjoyed the ham from Tonneins when he travelled through the town. Market gardens and home potagers have no trouble growing Marmande tomatoes and most other vegetables, farms and smallholdings raise livestock and poultry, foie gras is made here, and the landscape is patched with orchards of all sorts of fruit, notably the famous prunes d’Agen. To many of us, the prune is a black and wrinkly fruit endured, stewed for breakfast, to keep our inner workings regular. Not so for the French: for them, the beloved pruneau is an important part of their culinary heritage, much appreciated in the south-west, revered in its fiefdom, the Lot-et-Garonne. When the Crusaders brought back damson trees from Syria in the 12th century and monks in Clairac Abbey grafted them on to local plum trees, it was discovered that, dried in the sun, the resulting hybrid fruit could be preserved for a full year. Later on, plums would be spread out on claies (resembling giant snowshoes) and slow-dried in special ovens still found on many farms. Promoters of the fruit, and they are legion, boast of the health-giving qualities of the pruneau. Apart from their laxative properties, prunes aid digestion, provide a ‘slow’ sugar for dieters and sportsmen, contain anti-oxidants and help the absorption of minerals and vitamins – especially iron, B-carotene and polyphenols which combat cardiovascular disease. Pruneaux d’Agen are not shrivelled objects to be soaked and stewed; graded for size and, most importantly, for moisture content which determines whether they are for cooking or eating raw, they are variously sold as classic, semi-dried, organic or super-tender. Armagnac Another celebrity export is armagnac, said to be the oldest eau-de-vie in France: some 14th century records mention an aqua ardente, acclaimed for its 40 medicinal virtues. When an English embargo was imposed in Bordeaux on the export of local wines, the winegrowers of Gascony decided to distill their white wines to get around the blockade, making what is now called armagnac. The first recorded shipment was in 1414. The production process is a canny alliance of various techniques: Latin wine-growing know-how associated with the Moorish knowledge of stills and Celtic barrel-making methods. After distilling, armagnac is aged in oak barrels; it can be kept for years. You can still buy vintages from the 19th century. But suprisingly little armagnac actually leaves the area where it is made – extending from the Gers into the Landes and Lotet-Garonne. At least 40% of the 180,000 bottles produced a year are kept for local consumption. While armagnac may not have the 40 virtues vaunted 600 years ago, moderate intake is said to contribute to the prevention of cardio-vascular disease – another good reason to try it! A marriage made in the Lot-et-Garonne, and a local favourite for serving to visitors, Agen prunes macerated in armagnac make a good gift or souvenir of your holiday. Floc Whereas most people have come across a bottle of armagnac or Tarriquet’s Gascogne wine, fewer are those who have indulged in a Floc de Gascogne, an armagnac-fortified wine, delicious chilled as an apéritif. |
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