Languedoc, Roussillon, Comté de Foix

The southernmost region of France, the Languedoc, stretches from the Garonne to the Rhone valley. In its western quarter, in the shadow of the Pyrenees, are the small but historically important countship of Foix and the province of Roussillon, which add dimensions of their own to the regional cooking.

Gastronomically the Languedoc is a melting pot of foreign influences. In its eastern reaches around the ancient city of Nîmes there remain both Roman amphitheaters and traces of Roman cooking. The old seaport towns and those close to the Spanish frontier owe a certain debt to the Arabs for their cuisine. In Roussillon, where Catalan is still the common language, the oil cookery of Spain still holds its own.