Dining in the Auvergne. Auvergnat dishes on French Menus.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

  
A valley in the Auvergne seen through an extinct volcano
The Auvergne contains many extinct volcanoes with the last eruption around 6,000 years ago.
   
The Auvergne is close to the geographic center of France and includes the departments of Allier, Cantal, Haute-Loire, and Puy de Dôme. The Auvergne's mountains, rivers, and lakes are hiking, camping, and water-sports centers in the summer. In the winter, the higher elevations become centers for winter sports and ski resorts.  For those who enjoy a quieter vacation, the Auvergne is the place. The Auvergne is one of the least inhabited areas in Europe; it has two persons per sq km. Compare that with Provence- Alps-Cote-d'Azur with 156 persons per sq km.  (Since 1-1-2016 the Auvergne is part of the administrative region of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes).
    
Dining in the Auvergne with 100% local produce.
That includes meat, fish, mineral water, beer, wines, and liquors:

Dining in the Auvergne can be an awesome experience for visitors to France. Excellent meals made by well-trained chefs, with many only using local ingredients. Even the water, the beer and the wine on the table may be regional. Bottled mineral water with brands like Volvic, Vichy, Saint-Diéry, and others are well-known throughout France.  Local beers include Volcans, Vellavia, Pastourèla, Sagnes, Ambrée, and others. To see a Wikipedia list of the beers produced in the region, click here.


Historically the Auvergne was the third-largest wine-producing region of France after Bordeaux and Burgundy. However, like most other wine-producing regions in Europe, their vineyards became infected with phylloxera at the end of the 19th century.  Unfortunately, unlike other areas, the Auvergne wine producers never recovered their fame and fortune. Nevertheless, that does not mean that the Auvergne has a shortage of excellent local wines; their Chanturgue AOP red wine has a remarkable history in French cuisine.  (Towards the end of this post, I have listed the most well-known wines).    

Auvergne restaurant menu listings:

Couderc Gentiane  A bitter, but fresh tasting, local aperitif or digestif served cold or with ice. It is made from fresh gentian flowers grown in the mountains.

Kir Royal Auvergne -  An  Auvergne take on the aperitif  that originated in Burgundy.  The Auvergne Kir is made using the local Saint-Pourçain Mousseaux, a lightly sparkling wine, and an Auvergne crème cassis,  a black currant liquor.
   
Crème de Lentilles du Puy - A cream of lentil soup made with the Auvergne's unique AOP lentils, the Lentilles de Puy. These lentils are cultivated in an area with its own microclimate around the small town of Puy-en-Velay in the department of Haute-Loire. These lentils are a dark green color characterized by blue marbling.  For lentil lovers these are very special with less than 300 tons are grown in any one year.

Petit Salé aux Lentilles du Puy Salted pork with lentils is a traditional bistro dish served all over France, but with the Lentilles du Puy in the Auvergne this dish will also be on the menu in the finest restaurants.

If you do visit Puy-en-Velay, there is a 12th-century cathedral which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The cathedral is built along the old pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The pilgrimage route is marked by the sign of the scallop shell; in France that is also the shape of those famous little sponge cakes called Madeleines.
   
Photograph Public Domain
   
Soupe aux Choux au Cantal – This soup is a combination of the Auvergne’s plentiful cabbages and their superb Cantal AOP cheese. When in the Auvergne, make sure to try an Auvergne cabbage soup or another Auvergne cabbage dish.
   
Vichyssoise – Vichyssoise; a cold leek and potato soup. Vichyssoise is the dish to choose on a hot summer's day. Mind you; not everyone considers Vichyssoise an authentic Auvergnat dish, even though an Auvergnat native created it. The chef, Louis Diat, created his world-famous soup at the New York Ritz-Carlton in Hotel, USA, in 1917, and so some chefs claim the soup for the USA. The Auvergnats, the name given to the Auvergne residents, believe this soup is their own. Ignoring all the arguments, it is clear that Louis Diat had different ideas and named the soup after his hometown of Vichy in the Auvergne, and that was over 100 years ago.
    
Vichyssoise
www.flickr.com/photos/stuart_spivack/22822969/
     
Melon Fraîcheur et son Jambon d'Auvergne – Chilled melon served with a cured ham from the Auvergne. Jambon cru d'Auvergne hams are salted and then cured for a minimum of nine months with very best cured for up to sixteen months. For more about French cured hams, click here.
  
Belles Tranches de Bœuf AOC Fin Gras du Mézenc Justes Marinées et Condiments d' une Béarnaise – Beautiful slices of Fin Gras du Mézenc AOC beef lightly marinated and served with a Sauce Béarnaise. This particular dish is a Fin Gras du Mézenc take on a beef Carpaccio.  The Bœuf Fin Gras du Mézenc AAOP cattle are raised on the Mézenc Massif that runs through the departments of Ardèche and the Haute-Loire. These are a unique AOP beef cattle since they are not a single breed; rather, they are mixed breeds raised as free-range cattle. They are given their AOP for the way they are nurtured and the taste of their beef. This finely marbled beef is only on French Menus between February and early June.

Coq au Vin de Chanturgue Coq au Vin, prepared with the Chanturgue AOP red wine of the Auvergne.  Most chefs agree that the first time this dish appeared on a French restaurant menu this was the wine use.
  
Coq au Vin.
www.flickr.com/photos/nathan_y/5180111161/
   
Truite Sauvage, de l’Auvergne Grillé au Feu de Bois avec Carottes Vichy  – Wild Auvergne trout, grilled over a wood fire and served with carrots cooked in the manner of Vichy. Carrots in the style of the town of Vichy is a garnish of carrots served glazed with butter. The original recipe requires the carrots to be boiled in Vichy’s famous, bottled, lightly effervescent mineral water; however, I doubt that most restaurants carefully observe that instruction. The Auvergne has hundreds of rivers and streams. The Auvergne is considered a freshwater fisherman’s and fisherwoman’s paradise and apart from trout local fishermen and women will be catching: omble chevalier, freshwater charbrochet, pikesander, pike-perchperche, freshwater perchcarpe, carp; and the American import Black-Bass or Black-bass à Grande Bouche, large-mouthed bass. Many amateur fishermen and women choose the Auvergne expressly for the exceptional fishing and privacy. Vichy is famous for the food products named after it, such a Vichyssoise and its Vichy mineral water. The town itself remains infamous for its role as the center of German collaboration in WWII.
   
Lake Pavin in the Auvergne.
The lake is part of an extinct volcano and a beautiful place to visit.
www.flickr.com/photos/98338863@N08/15618693045/
   
Aligot d'Auvergne Saucisse et Salade de Printemps – Auvergne aligot, a traditional and very popular dish of mashed potatoes and a young Cantal or a Tomme d'Auvergne cheese. Here the Aligot is served with an Auvergne sausage and a spring salad, a salad made with young vegetables. The traditional Auvergne sausage is a small salami type pork sausage, about 100 grams, made with pork, pork fat, and beef. When this sausage is served with Aligot, it is usually grilled.
    
Aligot
www.flickr.com/photos/tavallai/5850019237/

Truffade Auvergnate – A traditional potato dish from the Auvergne. It is a thick potato pancake made from thinly sliced potatoes fried in goose fat. Just before serving, it is mixed with a fresh Auvergnat tomme cheese. This dish made be served on its own or accompanied by grilled Auvergne sausages or locally cured ham.
  
Entrecôte Charolais de Bourbonnais aux Morilles An entrecote, a rib steak. A rib-eye in the USA and UK. Depending on the particular cut, it may also be called a sirloin in the UK. Here the entrecote comes from the Charolais cattle and is served with morel mushrooms.  The Bœuf Charolais, Le Bœuf Charolais du Bourbonnais AOP are among France's most famous breeds. Bourbonnais was one of France's traditional provinces and the original home of the French Bourbon dynasty of kings. The ancient province of Bourbonnais is now divided between the modern administrative regions of the Auvergne - Rhône Alps and Centre-Val de Loire. On the same menu, you may also be offered Agneau Charolais du Bourbonnais, Label Rouge, red label, lamb from the same area, and the Charolais AOP goat's cheese.
    
A grilled entrecote.
    
Tarte de les Perles Noires et Perles Rouge de l’Auvergne -  A tart made with the red and black pearls of the Auvergne. In season all over the Auvergne’s mountains and hills, the locals will be collecting their wild and cultivated red and black pearls, the local berries. These include the baies de cassis, European black-currants; the groseille rouge, red currants;  myrtille or bleuet, the bilberry; mûre, the blackberry, baie de Genièvre, the juniper berry, and the framboise, the raspberry. 
     
A black pearl - a mûre, a blackberry.
www.flickr.com/photos/malmont/30949598068/

Verveine - Lemon Verbena or lemon-scented verbena, the herb, may be offered as an herbal tea. In the Auvergne, Verbena is also made into a liqueur, and that may be offered as a digestif.
  
Liqueur de Châtaigne de l'Auvergne - The chestnut liqueur of the Auvergne may be offered as a digestif. An alternative will be the Marc d'Auvergne, one of the many local digestifs that you may choose from. Marcs are very similar to the grappas of Italy. They are brandies made with the leftovers from pressing the grapes used for wine. Originally they were the brandies made for the peasants; now they are professionally distilled, aged, and served in the finest restaurants.
 
Cheese in the Auvergne

There are five Auvergne cheeses with an AOP: Cantal, Salers, Bleu d'Auvergne, Saint-Nectaire, and the Forme d'Ambert.  Apart from these five, there are many excellent cheeses without an AOP. These less expensive, but very tasty, cow's, goat's and sheep's cheeses include Chèvreton, Chabrirou, Le Chambérat, Fournols, Saint-Amant, and the Tomme d'Auvergne among many others. Not having an AOP does indicate an inferior cheese; many excellent cheeses do not have the distribution or exact geographical production areas that are required for an AOP.
  
Cantal Vieux
The Cantal Vieux will have been matured for at least six months.
  

The Auvergne has a Route des Fromages AOP d'Auvergne, a cheese road for their top five cheeses. Taking this road is an excellent way to see the region while tasting cheeses of every type, AOP or not, along with wines and other local products. There is, unfortunately, no official Route des Vins d'Auvergne, a wine road. Nevertheless, you may see a map with the Auvergne wineries clearly marked on the French language website below. (The site is easily navigated in English with Google or Bing Translate apps).
  

 The English language web site for the Auvergne's five AOP cheeses is: 


You may write ahead to obtain a printed copy of the map of the cheese road at info@fromages-aop-auvergne.com. If you buy cheese to take home first, see the post: Bringing French Cheese Home and a Lexicon for buying French Cheese.  

 With the map of the cheese road and the directions to the Auvergne's wineries, make your own combined wine and cheese road. The farms and wineries that you stop at for a tasting will ask for a small and reasonable contribution to the local economy. After a few hours of wines, cheeses, beautiful scenery, and picturesque villages stop for lunch, find a hotel, rest, and enjoy the peace and quiet and continue the next day.

Then come the Auvergne's wines.

The AOP wines of the Auvergne include:

Saint-Pourçain AOP: Red, rosé, white and mousseux, lightly sparkling, wines

Côtes d'Auvergne AOP: (5 appellations)
Madargue: Red.
Chateaugay: Red, rose, and white.
Chanturgue: Red. The original red wine used for Coq au Vin.
Corent: Dry rosé
Boudes:  Red

Côte Roannaise AOP: Reds and rosé.

Côtes du Forez AOP: Red and rose. 
    
The wines of the Auvergne

There are many good and inexpensive Auvergne wines, including the Vins IGP du Puy de Dôme. (IGP wines were previously called Vin de Pays). There are reds, rosés, gris (gray), and white wines, but the difference between vintners, even with wines from the same year, can be amazing. I always travel with an up-to-date pocketbook on French wines as a price and year tell me little about what's in the bottle, and even a well-recommended producer can have a bad year. 

Additionally, Auvergne has many Vins de France. (Previously the Vins de France wines were called Vins de Table). A Vin de France label may indicate low-cost wines, but a limit on the price but does not mean that they are all terrible wines. Like all wines, including those with an AOP, you need recommendations from someone who knows the wine, the year, and or the vintner. There are many reasons that a wine cannot hold an AOP grading, and many of those relate to where the grapes grew, and the grapes used, not the taste. N.B.: Old wines at low prices are indications to choose something else; the French know their wines, and if it were good, they would have been there first. See the post on the new French wine labels: What has changed in French wines? What is an AOP, an IGP, and a Vin de France?

Before traveling to the Auvergne
  
Study the French Government, English language website, below, for the Auvergne, and you'll be on the way to a very different and calm part of France.
 

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

 

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

Copyright 2010, 2014, 2020

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