We could have gone for an à la carte A to Z list, but in the end we have opted for a menu with a choice of starter, main course, cheese AND dessert, just for good measure. So here are those famous specialities of Aquitaine…
As a starter…
After tasting some caviar from the Dordogne or Gironde, how about a few
oysters from the Bay or Arcachon? Or perhaps some wafer-thin slices of
12-month matured Bayonne ham and some lovely fresh foie gras fried with
apple?
For your main course…
If you go for the garbure – a thick soup with cabbage, beans, salted
meats and goose conserve – you are unlikely to need any other courses at all.
Another typical Béarn dish is poule au pot, or chicken stew. In
the nearby Basque Country, the obvious choice is a veal axoa or a
piperade (both with the local peppers), while a freshly-caught lamprey
from the estuary will be just the thing in the Gironde, prepared in the
Bordeaux style, of course.
Then on to the cheese…
Pride of place goes to the ewe’s cheeses of the Pyrenean valleys of Ossau and
Iraty, a long-standing tradition that continues to thrive today. In the
Lot-et-Garonne, there is the cabécou goat’s cheese, while the
Dordogne offers the cheeses of the Trappist Monastery of Echourgnac, a small
village nestled in the heart of the Forêt de la Double.
And finally the dessert…
Agen prunes, Landes pastis – a close relation of the apple
tourtière of the Lot-et-Garonne – Gateau Basque, of course, and the
Bordeaux canelé and bouchon provide the most fitting climax
to a meal worthy of the heartiest Gascon.
And of course, the drinks…
As an aperitif, why not try a Lillet Blanc? After that, there are the
world-renowned vineyards of Bordeaux, the Lot-et-Garonne with its Buzet and
Côtes-de-Duras, the Landes for their Tursan, the Basque Country and its
Irouléguy and Béarn for Béarn-Bellocq, Jurançon and Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh… And
then an Armagnac, of course, to bring it all to a perfect finish with your
coffee.
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