Local products
Poultry. Palmipeds are the real stars of local produce, and benefit from a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). Mulard ducks, Barbary ducks and geese from the Gers are bred to grace French tables during the festive season. They account for 80% of the 5 million birds sold at the end of the year. But we mustn't forget the producers of festive chickens and poultry such as capons and turkeys. Some producers have revived the taste for the black Astarac hen, marketed under the name "Volaille noire d'Astarac-Bigorre". Its firm, finely marbled flesh is perfect for a poule au pot.
Cattle. The Gers has two local breeds. The Mirandaise, descended from the cattle brought by the Visigoths in the 6th century, is bred mainly on the hillsides in the south of the department. Its beautiful coat has earned it the nickname of the "pearly Gers ox". Threatened with extinction in the 1970s, a conservation program has raised the number of head to 600. Gascony beef enjoys a fine reputation. Red meat lovers appreciate its tight fiber and even marbling. Fed on fresh grass for at least six months of the year, it develops muscle of exceptional quality.
Charcuterie and cured meats. The rest of the duck is transformed into fresh sausages, dry sausages, stuffed necks, rillettes and pâtés. Gascon black pork is also widely consumed in the form of sausages and hams. In autumn, pork butchers enhance their stalls with game pâtés (venison, wild boar) and free-range poultry terrines.
Fruit and vegetables. The fertile soils of Lomagne are ideal for market gardening. Lomagne white garlic was awarded its IGP in 2008. Grown in and around Saint-Clar, it has pungent, slightly woody notes when raw. When cooked, it loses its vigor and takes on a sugary sweetness. Cultivated since 1850, the Lectoure melon has been protected by a trademark since 2016, while awaiting PGI status. The Charente variety delivers firm, fragrant, sweet flesh, celebrated every summer during the Fête du Melon, around August 15. The Agen prune, also protected by an IGP, thrives in Lomagne, with over 500 hectares devoted to its production. Some of these prunes end up in jars of Armagnac, to be enjoyed at the end of a meal. Armagnac and its sandy soils are home to green asparagus in spring. And all over the department, depending on the season, you'll find peaches, kiwis and medlars, and you can find ceps and chanterelles in the undergrowth.
Breads. Artisan bakers are truly creative, and the reputation of local specialities often extends beyond the borders of the département. Perhaps the best-known is the pain tordu, born from the crossing of two dough pieces: its airy crumb makes it puff up to perfection, and you'll love its fine, crunchy crust. Coat-rack bread is easily recognized by its typical shape with rolled-up ends. Flambade, baguette gasconne and pain des familles also fill the shelves and, while wheat or rye flour is the most common, try corn bread - it's a real pleasant surprise.
Local specialties
The duck breast. Formerly confit in stoneware pots, the duck breast was "reinvented" in 1960 by the Gers chef André Daguin. He had the idea of grilling it and eating it like beef. To make a success of this duck breast, you must first melt half of the fat in a frying pan. A passage in the oven for 5 to 6 minutes, fat on top, allows to obtain a pink meat. The secret lies in the "relaxation" of the meat after cooking: you must let it rest as long as it has cooked before serving it.
Foie gras. Goose or duck, fresh, semi-cooked or in terrine, foie gras accompanies all festive meals in the Gers. You have to come in winter to discover the foie gras ritual which starts in one of the five "marchés au gras" of the department. You come to choose your fresh foie gras, of a beautiful pearly beige color, which must be slightly marked under the thumb. It is then cooked in a jar or in a terrine, and cooked in salt, in the dishwasher or in a more traditional way. If the product is fragile, the ways of accommodating and preparing it are multiple and you will easily find a cooking workshop to learn how to de-nerve and prepare it.
The confit. The method, very old, goes back to the Antiquity. It would have been imported in the Gers by the Romans. The salted meat, cooked over a low heat for hours, was then put in a jar in its cooking fat. It could be preserved for a long time. Nowadays, you will find it in all the good butchers and delicatessens of the Gers. All you have to do is heat it up!
The Gascon garbure. From the old tradition of soup for dinner, the garbure gasconne has kept the principle. It can be found on farm tables in winter, especially in the south of the department. This mythical dish draws from all the possibilities of the garden and the reserves of confits. The specialists will tell you, when the spoon holds straight in the pot, it is ready!
The chicken in the pot. No one knows if Henri IV was really crazy about the hen in the pot. Nor if he really said: "I want every ploughman in my kingdom to be able to put the chicken in the pot on Sundays Still, the dish is among the emblematic recipes of the Gers - and Navarre. For a very fragrant aroma, prefer the black hen of Astarac.
Millas. This salty cake, similar to polenta, is mostly cooked in the south of the Gers, where corn grows. The ancients used to dip it in the daube or the garbure on special occasions.
The garlic tourin. This white soup highlights the creativity of the Lomagne cooks in magnifying local products. A self-respecting tourin is prepared with white garlic from Lomagne. It is cooked in goose fat, then boiled with water. Flour and vinegared egg yolk are added to thicken it, and the egg white is added at the end of cooking for consistency. A delight.
Croustade. Based on apples or prunes and always generously sprinkled with Armagnac, this "cake" is made from a thin flaky pastry, like that of the brick sheets. Several layers of dough are superimposed, cooked fruits are added, and the dough is folded over the fruits before baking.
Les merveilles. Made with flour, eggs, vanilla sugar, orange blossom, a touch of armagnac, a knob of melted butter and milk, the merveilles are fried for five minutes in duck fat, drained and then sweetened. They should be eaten hot and sprinkled with powdered sugar.
Wines and Spirits
In Gascony, the culture of wine goes back to the Gallo-Roman period, as testified by the mosaics of thevilla of Séviac. At the beginning of the 20th century, phylloxera devastated the vineyards that covered almost the entire department. Only a few parcels escaped the massacre. Today, the vineyard occupies 5% of the useful agricultural surface, concentrated on its western part. White grape varieties are in the majority, as they are used exclusively in the production of Armagnac. But the red grape also finds its place and expresses itself in wines of character, faithful to the Gascon identity.
The Côtes-de-Gascogne. A thousand winegrowers make this emblematic appellation of the Gers come alive in red, white and rosé. The grape varieties are varied, from tannat and cabernet sauvignon in red, to colombard, ugni, gros manseng and sauvignon in white. The red wines accompany the rustic dishes of the soil, the whites and the rosés can be tasted in all frivolity in summer.
Saint-Mont. AOP since 2011, the appellation brings together about forty communes in the south of the Armagnac region. The richness of the local grape varieties produces vintages whose quality is based on tawny sands, variegated clays, maucors pebbles and a specific microclimate which offer them a beautiful complexity but also a fruity and elegant taste. Very famous, whether they are reds with a little licorice flavor, whites with a hint of hazelnut, or rosés with a hint of red fruits, these wines are a testimony to the winemaker's know-how. The other particularity of this terroir is to have a pre-phyloxera plot registered in the inventory of historical monuments.
Beers. The people of Gers are only moderately fond of beer, in spite of the many third-half celebrations throughout the year. If they drink it, they prefer it cut with peach or lemon syrup. However, there is a small brewing industry and craft breweries are starting to get organized. They are multiplying and are currently 10 in number, trying to convince a clientele more used to industrial beer, light in taste. Some brewers take care to bring a typically Gers touch to their beverage, like the beer with armagnac of the Brasserie l'Excuse or the one with corn of Jean Brasse. Others use organic raw materials like the Vaillant-Fourquet brewery in Miradoux or the one of VBB.
Armagnac. The oldest brandy in France was born more than 700 years ago in the Gers. The prestigious vineyards occupy the western and northern flanks of the department. The white wines of the year are distilled in a special still, then aged in oak barrels. For more information, see our complete file on Armagnac at the beginning of the Discover section.
Vodka. Nicolas Sinoquet ignores tradition and uses his Armagnac stills to distill a vodka made from organic cow's milk from the Auvergne. He was inspired by the Mongolian arkhy for the recipe. Very limited production, Lactalium Vodka can be found in very good restaurants in Gers or at the estate.
