As the Mediterranean was a vast salt repository and the Lacaune region needed lots of salt (largely to preserve the meats produced there), caravans of mules were used for almost three thousand years to transport salt, wine and salted meats!
Monts de Lacaune Charcuterie
High in the mountains, this area offers the perfect environment for drying salted meats.
You only have to look at the number of businesses here that have made Lacaune an area for dried salted meats, unique in France.
A whole array of products bears witness to the skills of the people here, their history and their land: hams, sausages of all different shapes and sizes, melsat (a kind of white pudding made with meat, bread and eggs), bougnette (similar to melsat, but cooked in a pork caul), black pudding and many more. As the popular saying goes, "every bit of a pig is good".
The saying certainly holds true in Lacaune, where every part of the pig is used in an array of tasty dishes. You might find:
- fresh meat to roast, grill or braise
- fresh sausages to cook
- cooked port products such as pâtés, black puddings and other specialities
- salted meats including a wide range of dried sausages and ham
Pork butchers in Lacaune have specialised in dried products, which represent over 60% of local food processing activities.
Why have they chosen to specialise in this area?
The specific requirements of rearing large pigs, the salt road, the natural advantages of the climate and so on…
Everything you need to know about salted meats from Lacaune:
http://www.lacaune.com
