Specialities of the Dordogne

Southern France is respected throughout the world as the ideal holiday destination, catering for tourism and yet somehow managing to maintain the traditions, style, and atmosphere so usually lost in other tourist spots. With much of the landscape untouched, the natural beauty is retained making this region the ideal place to get away from the pressures of modern day life.

People in the Dordogne are known to enjoy a slower pace of life. Common activities and specialities enjoyed range from the production of ceramics to the holding of wine festivals. While France is well known for producing wines, the Dordogne department produces a wide variety of lesser-well known local varieties. The taste of these is representative of the warm summers, with the temperature influencing how the grapes ripen.

One of the most well known of these is Monbazillac, and this is often considered to be one of the best the Dordogne has to offer. Widely exported to Holland, mass global appeal continues to expand across the world.

Whilst France has a reputation for its love of the grape, in addition to the many local wines there are also a number of well known luxury meals, traditional to the area. Fois gras is a famed but controversial delicacy, and this cuisine is particularly popular in the Dordogne. Made from the liver of a duck or a goose, Fois gras is produced using birds which have been fattened specially to increase flavour. Unfortunately this is often produced through force feeding, and as such is frowned upon by some communities, but this does not stop mass export to other parts of Europe along with the United States and the People’s Republic of China. The French are both the leading producer and consumer of fois gras, with 78.5% of the fois gras produced in 2005 estimated to originate from France.

Whilst fois gras is a traditional luxury meal, you may also be interested in another of the regions famous foodstuffs, the truffle. So proud are they of their truffles that the people of the Sorges even hold annual truffle festivals. But what is a truffle? Some people may think of a truffle as a being the chocolate and ganache treat, however this is a more recent invention, named after the similar looking original. Traditional truffles are the fruit of a form of fungus, difficult to cultivate and highly sought after. They are known to grow near and around trees, with the tree type influencing the flavour, colour and texture. Truffles are a speciality of the area and something not to be missed!

A favourite you may be more familiar with is the walnut. In England, you would usually find these nuts dried, but throughout Dordogne they grow on trees within clusters of green tennis-ball shaped objects. When ripe, the green flesh will split, dropping to revealing the shell. Within this you will find a soft white nut – slightly different to the dried variety shipped to the UK but how it should look when served freshly.

With its varying landscape, temperate climate, local production of interesting foods and wines, and laid-back attitude, it’s of little wonder that so many of the English chose to go to the Dordogne, either on holiday or looking for a more permanent place to live and lead a better quality of life. People looking for a Holiday Villa in France will be pleased to find that conversion of old farm buildings such as barns into holiday Gîtes has helped the area to retain its character and style. Even the urbanised areas are usually unique in their appearance. If you’ve not yet visited the Dordogne then a trip to sample the local treats is highly recommended.