from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
Pelardon des Cévennes AOP
Photograph courtesy of La Fromagerie des Cevennes.
Pelardon or Pelardon des Cévennes AOP
Members of the production team.
Photograph courtesy of Isabelle Blanchemain
www.flickr.com/photos/isasza/33237551871/
The Pelardon cheese.
Photograph courtesy of the Syndicat des Producteurs de Pélardon
The department of Lozère, where Pelardon is produced, is beautiful and the place to go for visitors who want France without the hordes of tourists. Lozère also has less than 80,000 inhabitants; that's less than 15 people per square kilometer (6 people per square mile).
The Cévennes is also home to other highly rated food products, including the Oignon Doux des Cévennes AOP, the sweet onion of the Cevennes, the Reinette du Vigan apples, and the Belles de Bancels potatoes.
A Pélardon des Cévennes tart fine.
The tart is made with a base of puff pastry with tomatoes, the Pélardon des Cévennes cheese, and the AOP sweet onions of the Cevennes.
Photograph courtesy of the Syndicat des Producteurs de Pélardon
Follow the sign to the village of
Sainte Croix Vallée Française
On the first Sunday in May, every year, the Fête du Pélardon welcomes visitors in the village of Sainte Croix Vallée Française.
Photograph courtesy of the village of Sainte Croix Vallee Francaise.
Traveling in Lozere.
Farming and tourism are the main occupations in Lozere. There is skiing in the winter, and in the summer, kayaking, hiking, and fishing. The rivers Lot, Tarn, Truyere, Allier Altier, Gardons, and Cevennes, run through the department and have made Lozere an important center for fishing enthusiasts from all over France and beyond. These rivers have many different fish, but the most important is the brown trout. In French, that is the truite fario, truite commune, or truite de rivière.
Brown
trout 2.5 kg.(5.5 lbs).
Photograph courtesy
of Michael Meiters
www.flickr.com/photos/psychofreakx3/5391479746/
Brown trout in
the languages of France neighbors:
(Catalan - truita
de mar), (Dutch - zeeforel), (German – meerforelle), (Italian -
trota fario), (Spanish - trucha común, trucha marrón, trucha reo).
Learning about Lozere
To know more
about the department of Lozere's history, visit their small museum: Le Musée des Vallées Cévenoles, the museum of
the Cévenole valleys. The museum is in the village of Saint Jean du Gard, 89
km (56 miles) from Mende, the
prefecture.
For more about
the Cevennes look at their English language website:
http://www.cevennes-tourisme.fr/uk/
A special part of the history of Lozere.
The department is internationally recognized for the small town of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. Through its Protestant Pastor, this whole town worked together and saved thousands of Jews in WWII. Many were smuggled into neutral Switzerland, and many others were hidden throughout the entire war in private homes and the nearby forests. The whole village was recognized as among the Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in Israel and in 2004 by the French President Jacques Chirac. The town is 130 km (81 miles) from Mende, the Prefecture, the regional capital. The French language website of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon can be well understood using Google or Bing translate: http://www.ville-lechambonsurlignon.fr/
The church in Chambon-sur-Lignon
Photograph courtesy of Suzanne.
www.flickr.com/photos/sweetpeasue/6104529370/
Where is Lozere
Lozère is the least populated a department in France. It is in the region of Occitanie bordering the department of Gard also in Occitanie and the departments of Ardeche, Cantal, and Haute-Loire in the Auvergne-Rhone Alps; Avignon is less than one hour by car.
This Lozere
French language website can be easily understood with the Google or Bing translating
apps: http://www.lozere-tourisme.com/
