activities >> cuisine

Languedoc-Roussillon used to have a rather unfair reputation for being a culinary desert. And to be honest, the only dish that most people could probably name would be the king of the Catalan table: cassoulet.

However, there are many great Catalan dishes which benefit from the wonderful and locally abundant fruit, vegetables, fish and meat.

Look out for the increasing numbers of hotel- restaurants with young and vibrant owners. Also keep an eye out in the villages for the fermes-auberges, where you are likely to eat honest earthy cuisine based entirely on local ingredients such as game, wild boar, rabbit, pigeon, foie gras, morels, truffles and confit.

Along the coast you'll find dishes like fricasées, cassoulet (bean and sausage stew), brandade de morue (salt cod puree), and wonderful fresh sea food: mussels and oysters raised in the etangs (lagoons) of the Côte Vermeille.

You'll also encounter other Languedocien steadfasts like aïoli (a delicious garlic mayonnaise), bouillabaisse (famous fish soup from Marseille), as well as another fish soup which the port of Sète is famous for: bourride (like a fish chowder).

In the villages of the Vallespir you'll find escargot á la catalan (grilled snails with aïoli sauce), mouratayrol (delicious chicken pot-au-feu), rouzoles (crêpes filled with ham and bacon), pelardons (a dish with goat's cheese), roussillonnade (bolet mushrooms and sausages grilled over a fire), as well as boles de picolat (catalan meatballs with mushrooms).

Just over the border into Spain, you'll find it difficult to avoid the bountiful delicatessens filled with a myriad different types of that other local speciality: sauccisson (air-cured saussages).

And to finish it all off - the famous dessert, crème catalane (caramel encrusted cream, baked and flavoured with anise and cinnamon).

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We've compiled a list of good restaurants that are within easy driving distance of the house.