Comfortably ensconced on my sofa at home in the small Provençal village of Mouriès, I am enjoying the warmth of both my fireplace and a glass of local red wine. I am listening to the radio announcing that the fight against Covid is possibly taking a turn with the discovery of a vaccine. The future […]

Stand aside, Mister Merlot. Here come Lord Ondenc, Sir Len de l’El, The Earl of Prunelart, and the Count of Mauzac Roux. If you’re bored of wine that tastes more like processed blackberry tart, it’s time to discover the weird old wines of the dustier corners of France. First up: Gaillac. If Willy Wonka was […]

Welcome to Villefranche-de-Rouergue, a hard-to-say town with a not-to-miss market and a resolute refusal to enter the 21st century. Nowhere better to see what Autumn has to offer the curious cook than the Thursday morning market here. I’ve visited all the markets in this part of France (the South-West), and this is hands down my […]

Sometimes the internet takes all the fun out of travelling. Happily, the best stuff is still not, and probably never will be, available online. You can Google-streetview your hotel before arriving and surf down the narrowest backstreets of the smallest village atop the ghastly google car. Read endless blogs to find out what the hottest […]

The first in a series of posts on the best of the many thousands of farmers markets in France, this one’s on the Thursday morning market in the South-West town of Auch. Auch is the capital of the Gers region, a pretty old town on the banks of the river Gers about 90 minutes west […]

Together with Kate Hill of the Kitchen at Camont in France’s Gascony region, Trufflepig is offering the grand prize for the craziest food phenomenon ever to hit the web: the aptly-named Charcutepalooza. Read on for details of how to win a food trip that’s really worth its salt. It hardly needs pointing out that at […]