A slice of clafoutis, a cherry-based dessert Occitan cuisine is the traditional cuisine and

gastronomy Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating. One who is well versed in gastr ...

Occitania Occitania ( oc, Occitània , , or ) is the historical region in Western and Southern Europe where the Occitan language was historically spoken and where it is sometimes still used as a second language. This cultural area roughly encompasse ...

, the supranational region where Occitan is traditionally spoken.

Introduction

Occitan cuisine is a kind of

Mediterranean cuisine Mediterranean cuisine is the food and methods of preparation used by the people of the Mediterranean Basin. The idea of a Mediterranean cuisine originates with the cookery writer Elizabeth David's book, '' A Book of Mediterranean Food'' (1950 ...

, very close to

Catalan cuisine Catalan cuisine is the cuisine from Catalonia. It may also refer to the shared cuisine of Northern Catalonia and Andorra, the second of which has a similar cuisine to that of the neighbouring Alt Urgell and Cerdanya '' comarques'' and which ...

in the west and to

Italian cuisine Italian cuisine (, ) is a Mediterranean cuisine#CITEREFDavid1988, David 1988, Introduction, pp.101–103 consisting of the ingredients, recipes and List of cooking techniques, cooking techniques developed across the Italian Peninsula and late ...

in the east. This is due not only to the great breadth of Occitania, which goes from the Atlantic Ocean, to the South of France and to the Mediterranean Sea, but to its great geographic diversity as well, the latter whereof grants Occitan cuisine many different kinds of ingredients and dishes adapted to differing localities. As with other Mediterranean cuisines, it has basic ingredients with strong flavors, such as

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Welsh onion and Chinese onion. It is native to South Asia, Central Asia and northeas ...

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ' ...

s, salted

fish Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...

olive oil Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: ...

and

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...

, but it also shares some characteristics with Atlantic cuisines, such as the use of

cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During productio ...

and

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condim ...

. Some of its specialties are well known around the Mediterranean, where they exist in exactly the same form, otherwise with little variation — for example, bolhabaissa,''La cuina del país dels càtars'', p. 25 alhòli, ratatolha, and pan golçat (bread with garlic), with emphasis on

fines herbes Fines herbes () designates an important combination of herbs that forms a mainstay of French cuisine. The canonical ''fines herbes'' of French ''haute cuisine'' comprise finely chopped parsley, chives, tarragon, and chervil. These are employed ...

. Other specialties include caçolet, pastís de treflas, aligòt,''Mémoires paysannes'', p.92. farcidures (potato and meat dumpling),

freginat Freginat or fréginat, friginat, frésinat, or fraïzinat, is a fricassée from south-west France and north-west Spain. The meat is usually pork, and the dish was traditionally served in both the French and Spanish areas the day after the annual ...

(fricassee of pork),''La cuina del país dels càtars'', p. 118 clafotís, flaunharda, and garbure.

References

Bibliography

*''La cuina del país dels càtars: Cultura i plats d'Occitània'', Jaume Fàbrega, Cossetània Edicions, 2003. *''Mémoires paysannes'', Jean Anglade, Éditions de Borée, 2003,

External links

''La cuina del país dels càtars'' de Jaume FàbregaOccitan cuisine and some recipesCargolade, Occitan and catalan cuisine
{{cuisine French cuisine by region Mediterranean cuisine Occitania