Gourmet products
Honey
The Aude is an important honey producer. Due to the diversity of the environments and their layering, many varieties of honey can be produced. Note that many beekeepers practice transhumance, an operation that dates back to antiquity and consists of transporting their hives twice a year, at night, with the help of a truck and a crane, to another territory where the bees will be able to forage on different plants! If your trip takes you to Narbonne, the best thing to do is to bring back one of these pots. The local honey is different from its neighbours thanks to its very fine texture and its colour close to white. Very old, it was considered the most famous honey in France between the 12th and 20th centuries. Among the varieties of honey offered in the Aude: scrubland honey in the east of the department, maquis and chestnut tree honey in the Montagne Noire, rosemary in the Narbonnais, lime and mountain in the Pyrenees... not forgetting thyme, acacia, callune, heather, fir tree, etc...
Olive oil
The other emblematic product that is easy to preserve, and therefore to bring back, is without a doubt olive oil. It's hard to find a more emblematic product of southern France ! Once you've wandered through the olive groves and seen a good number of mills still in operation, you'll be tempted - and rightly so - to bring back an extract of these local products.
The biscuits
Some people dance the mia, others... taste it! The millas is a typical cake of the West of Aude made with corn flour. Similar to a large thick pancake, it is cooked at home in an oiled pan. Otherwise the limos, although fragile, is also transportable. A speciality of Limoux, this brioche, covered with candied fruit and filled with cream, has made a name for itself in the pastry shops of Bordeaux and Toulouse. As tradition dictates, it contains a bean and a figurine. Another speciality of Limoux, to slip into your luggage: the Tap. This fine chocolate plug, filled with chocolate cream flavoured with marc de blanquette and decorated with raisins naturally combines the fine aromas of the products of the vine with the bitterness of cocoa. As for the nougat, the fruit of the meeting between almonds from the vineyards and honey, it is the local confectionery par excellence!
