Our savory culinary specialties in Limousin

A quick of a view

1. The pâté de pommes de terre

If you ask Limousin locals what their region’s salty specialty is, their answer will certainly be pâté de pommes de terre!

It’s the traditional dish par excellence here.

It comes in the form of a pie, made of brioche or puff pastry, depending on whether you want it soft or crispy, with potatoes cut into strips and seasoned with parsley. Thanks to this gentle stewing method, the aromatic flavors are diffused to best effect, while the potatoes remain melt-in-the-mouth inside. It’s best eaten hot as a main course, preferably accompanied by a salad. Historically prepared on Thursdays, it was a favorite among farmers.

Over the years, even more delicious versions have emerged: with or without cream, and with or without meat. The version with meat is generally made with sausage meat or fresh bacon, seasoning (pepper, parsley) and egg. Don’t forget the touch of cream that gives this dish all the farmhouse flavors of our terroir! 🥔

2. Chestnut boudin

It is one of the great classics of our traditional and popular gastronomic heritage. It’s the dish that’s regularly served on Limousin tables, whether family or gourmet, in autumn and winter.

The recipe is as old as the hills. Invented in Antiquity and highly appreciated in the Middle Ages, black pudding became widely popular and gave rise to numerous regional variations. Here in Limousin, we naturally make it with chestnut slivers, another flagship product of our terroir, which gives it a subtle, mild aroma and a little autumnal sweetness.

🌰 In our region, it’s easy to enjoy with mashed split peas, mashed potatoes and/or apples (sweetened this time) with 100% Limousin accents!

3. Stuffed cabbage

Stuffed cabbage is a typical dish of Limousin country cooking. It takes the form of small bundles of savory stuffing, often served in broth and accompanied by boiled potatoes.

Wrapped in a pretty, bright-green curly leaf, the stuffing reveals all its aromas: tasty meat (often semi-salted pork chops), carrots, leeks and minced onions, moistened stale bread, bouquet garni and sometimes slivers of chestnuts; all cooked in an addition of veal juice or vegetable juice and white wine.

🥄 A good local dish that will warm up your autumn and winter meals, the cabbage seasons!

4. Limousin meat

Do we still need to introduce it?

An emblematic cattle breed of the Limousin region, it is recognized as one of the best for the production of quality meat. What characterizes it most is the fineness of its grain, which gives it its remarkable taste and tenderness. It’s a low-fat meat, but finely marbled to ensure flavor, softness and juiciness!

It’s a must for every good table!

To find out more, just click here …🐂

5. Le Cèpe

in all its forms

It’s impossible to talk about Limousin gastronomy without mentioning… the cep! It’s THE mushroom to be found, if you know how to look for it, in our forests. It’s a staple of autumn dishes, in a thousand and one forms. In omelette, velouté, gratin, stuffed, in sauce, in pâté or pan-fried with garlic, parsley in duck fat, a touch of cream and served. Simply delicious!

6. Duck breast with apples

Although it’s often associated with the South-West of France, duck breast is well represented in our farmyards, and many Limousin poultry breeders provide us with quality ducks. In our orchards, it’s the inevitable apple that dominates. So why not combine them in a gourmet dish?

The success of a good dish often lies in its simplicity. Here, the apples are first peeled, cut into quarters, drizzled with lemon juice, sprinkled with cinnamon and then browned over a high heat to color. The duck breast should be squared on the skin side before pan-frying. For successful pink cooking, 6 minutes on the skin side and 3 minutes on the flesh side are ideal. Then slice the duck breast, add a dash of pepper here and fleur de sel there, and serve! Don’t forget the warm baked apples to accompany this delicious dish! 🪿🍏

Sim-pli-ci-té!

7. Grattons

Grattons are a specialty of the Haute-Vienne and Creuse regions. It’s a preparation made from pork belly and pork belly that’s left to cook for long hours over a low heat in a cast-iron casserole dish, then seasoned with garlic, parsley and pepper – quite simply!

They are often served as an aperitif or starter. Enjoy them on a slice of farmhouse bread, or on a galétou or tourtou (a Limousin galette made from buckwheat flour).

Grattons can be found on every good charcuterie board in local restaurants, alongside other specialties such as porc cul noir or giraud, a cousin of boudin made from lamb’s blood.

Charcuterie and the people of Haute-Vienne, it’s a great love story 💘

8. Les animelles

Les Amourettes… what a lovely name! Also known as Animelles, or a little less poetically, Couilles de mouton (we prefer its Occitan translation colhas de moton – pronounced “couilla dé moutou”), this tripe speciality from Limousin and the Périgord Vert, is a must-have at local gastronomic festivals: He who hasn’t eaten his animelles won’t have enjoyed the Frairie des Petits Ventres! 🐑

These sheep testicles are first put to drain, then blanched, before being cut into thin strips and pan-fried. When cooked, parsley and a squeeze of lemon are added. This dish is best served hot, with a white wine from Corrèze or, more locally, from the Coteaux de Verneuil.

9. La brégeaude

and make chabròl!

Brégeaude or bréjaude, is a soup similar to a pot-au-feu, traditionally prepared in Limousin. It gets its name from the action of crushing the ingredients during cooking to make a mush: in Occitan “brejar” translates as “to crush”. It’s made with bacon, potatoes, leeks, carrots, kale, turnips, sometimes turnips, depending on what the Limousin market gardener has on his stall in autumn-winter, since this soup is generally prepared from October to March. 🍲

First we savor the broth, sometimes with bread soups (slices soaked in broth), before finishing with the vegetables. Traditionally, the broth is finished by making chabròl (pronounced “chabro”). This custom consists of adding red wine to the plate when there’s a little broth left, then bringing the dish to the mouth, to swallow it thickly!

10. The sorrel tourain

and other sorrel-based recipes

Fricassee with tourain, or tourain with sorrel, is a traditional Limousin soup of bacon, sorrel and onions. In our grandmothers’ books, you’ll find many recipes based on sorrel here: a vegetable plant renowned for its unmistakably tangy taste and strong fragrance, it grows everywhere in Limousin. Among the classics of our local cuisine is Bourriquette, a poached egg on sorrel soup; or a porridge made from sorrel, flour, milk and egg, simply calledOseille! 🥬