Office de Tourisme

Explore and taste... Haute-Garonne !

Haute-Garonne has the privilege of sharing its rich gastronomy of tastes and traditions.
A stay with us gives you the opportunity to discover some of the famous local products which are an integral part of the cultural identity of South-western France.

Specialities
Foie gras and magret de canard (duck breast) are among the South-western French specialties. Not to mention the famous cassoulet and the Toulouse sausage which are also part of other typical regional dishes.

Less well known, Toulouse violets also have their place as an ingredient in numerous preparations, candies, ice cream and liqueur.

Specialities from the upper snowbound peaks such as Luchon’s pétéram; a dish prepared from sheep tripe, and the “pistache Luchonnaise”, a kind of mutton based cassoulet, these are a must along with the authentic local cheeses, the jewels of Pyrenees gastronomy.

Haute-Garonne has quite a number of other culinary treasures to delight your taste-buds such as tripou, omelette occitane, panset, tourin (garlic soup), lets not forget millas (cornmeal porridge). Finally, millasson, a Montréjeau speciality for over a century, which is a kind of baked custard flavoured with orange blossom and lemon rind.

Purple striped garlic from Cadours, a healthy treasure
The origins of garlic are from Antiquity. It has been associated with all kinds of qualities, with powers which clearly set it apart from other seasonings.

Violet Garlic of the Cadours countryside is a unique variety called “Germidour”. It’s purple streaks in the plant’s bulb gives this particular variety of garlic its unusual appearance. The local sunlight and microclimatic conditions lead to an early crop, with a strong flavour which has become famous far beyond Toulouse itself. Locally this violet jewel is the theme for summer festivities.

Where can you find our gastronomic delicacies?
A complete range of Haut-Garonne products is available at the “Maisons de la Haute-Garonne”, on the A61 motorway at the Port-Lauragais rest stop and service area and also the A64 motorway at the Comminges rest stop and service area. These are the Haute-Garonne General Council showcases with expositions and sales of products concerning tourism, gastronomy, and arts and crafts. These are promoted along with highlighting the skills and knowledge of the area’s crop growers, canners, bee-keepers, wine growers… Foies gras, Cadours garlic, Fronton wines, Pyrenean garbures, Toulouse cassoulets, Lauragais confits pigeons, Toulouse violets….All of these specialties are on display and for sale.

Les Maisons de la Haute-Garonne have a brochure available which has the contact details of the makers of all the products displayed, thus you may contact them directly. In some cases they welcome visitors, upon request…
Maison de la Haute-Garonne – Aire de Port-Lauragais, Autoroute A61 – Phone: 05 61 81 69 46
Maison de la Haute-Garonne – Aire du Comminges, Autoroute A64 – Phone : 05 62 00 88 11

Also see:

> Wines and vineyards

> Traditional markets