Les grandes salades

The grande salade is very big in Languedoc; on most menus you will find a list of them and if you order one, even a keen salad-lover’s first impression will be ‘too much’. But in hot weather the best choice will often be one of these jumbles of fresh green salad with any number of delicacies piled on top, and then a dessert or cheese.

In the Cévennes you may find a grande salade de cuisses de cailles fumées with smoked confit quails’ legs, slices of silky cured duck breast and gésiers (gizzards), mesclun (mixed leaves), tomatoes and a strong, mustardy dressing.