I thought I had posted this last week, and was surprised to find it still lurking among my drafts. Apologies!
After the pigs and sausages and bees and honey, and, of course, wine, we stopped at a few more farms.
Finally we came to Puivert, home of a Cathar castle.
As we started down the narrow road (many gasps as we passed other cars, each vehicle practically in the ditch yet nearly touching–unimaginable traffic of more than two cars in a day during this event!) toward Campserdou, the milk-drinker in the car got excited, recognizing a favorite farm.
Here the milk is raw–lait cru–unpasteurized, unhomogenized and unbelievably delicious. Tastings included milk, chocolate and vanilla flan, cheesecake and divine confiture du lait–kind of like caramel and totally addictive.
Then we aimed east. We stopped along the way for lunch, since we hadn’t reserved at any farm. We didn’t lack for something to eat–plenty of saucisson from our earlier purchases. We first tried a different spot but were practically knocked over by the wind. Menacing clouds came and went and happily didn’t rain on us, but the wind never let up. Forging on, we found a more protected site.
The afternoon was rounded out with more honey, since the next farm, le Gaec du Méchant Pas, has mostly fowl, under quarantine for the moment. No magret de canard today.
There were two kinds of liqueur made with honey. Never underestimate French ingenuity when it comes to making alcoholic beverages.
Finally we hit our last spot, le Gaec des Aouzines, home to more cows. Gaec means groupement agricole d’exploitation en commun, or a cooperative farm.
Really, the scenery is as much of a draw as the food.
…with the sound of music
If you missed part 1, or part 2, here they are.
Taste of France 
I had a very surreal house hunting experience in Puivert…..
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Do tell!
It’s kind of cold down/up? (south/high) there. A nice place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there.
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Snap. All the higher points in the region are damn cold in the winter!
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Wow such scenery after all those lovely tastes x
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Looks like such a great time! I love the photographs that you captured… makes for a really great photo diary. I know you left a comment on my blog once and told me something in French! Moi, je suis de Montreal alors je parle francais aussi! J’espere que vous passerez une bonne fin de semaine!
http://marblecrumbs.com
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Really looking forward to seeing some of this myself…..the middle of October peut-être….
Ali
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The last one this year is Oct. 2…but there are plenty of food fairs
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That honey looks especially good!
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The lady explained how they make the honey and how honey is organic or not, but it’s complicated so I will explain in a separate post.
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It seems like you visited a thousand farms on that one day. What goodies you must have escaped with. I’d love to know more about raw milk.
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Raw milk is just unpasteurized, like straight from the cow. It is used in certain cheeses, like Epoisses. It tastes great but can be risky for people with delicate immune systems, including small children, the elderly, because pasteurization (invented in France) kills the germs. Raw milk and cheeses made with it are mostly illegal in the U.S.
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I’ve seen people mention benefits from raw milk on social media, whereupon they are set upon by crowds screaming that it’s evil!!!! Handled properly, it’s probably fine, but I imagine all manner of problems could arise in transporting and marketing.
If you look around among foodies and farmers market people, you can usually find a source.
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I can see how, in a time with no refrigeration, raw milk could be a public health danger. Probably still today, if you’re dealing with people who are extremely laid-back about cold chains. But the level of sanitation and refrigeration mean that today the side effects are rare for healthy people. I’m not sure about health benefits–I think it’s mostly about taste.
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