Legend has it that a traveller once paid for his meal with a handful of garlic cloves. They were planted by the hotel owner and later grew into the region's kitchen gardens.
Pink garlic of Lautrec
The pink garlic of Lautrec is a bulb whose cloves are an attractive shade of pink of varying intensity and has a long period of dormancy, naturally giving it essential keeping qualities when dried.
The prince of seasonings, with a flavour that is particularly sought after by gourmets, pink garlic from Lautrec can be eaten cooked or raw, peeled or still "in its jacket" and adds character to all kinds of dishes, from the simplest to the most refined.
As well as its remarkable qualities as a cooking ingredient, pink garlic from Lautrec is renowned for its numerous therapeutic benefits, which have been known since Classical times.
Everything you need to know about pink garlic from Lautrec: http://www.ailrosedelautrec.com
The Label rouge and production methods
The production area is centred around Lautrec, at the heart of the Tarn department. Garlic thrives here on the clay-chalky soils it likes best and basks in the warm climate, influenced by both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean, which makes for optimal growing conditions.
Farmers produce the pink garlic of Lautrec with immense care, ensuring that they harvest it at just the right stage of maturity to make the most of its excellent keeping qualities.
Once the bulbs have been harvested and tied in bunches they are hung in a barn to dry, during which time they will lose around a quarter of their weight. The heads of garlic are then carefully peeled, sorted and graded, before being packed as strings or plaits know as manouilles.
Pink garlic from Lautrec with the Label rouge quality label is then ready to go on sale to the consumer.
