Bougnette: a dish made of bread, eggs and pork, bougnette is a kind of fritter, weighing around 400 g. It is hand-made, and once cooked, looks like a little golden ball. Bougnette was invented in the 13th century and is made only in the south of Tarn, which is a major producer of cured meats and pork products. You can find it at boucherie-charcuteries in Lacaune, for example.
Pounti: a cross between a fruit cake and a custard tart, pounti is a delicious blend of sweet and savoury. Its ingredients are Swiss chard leaves, spinach, a little sausage meat and prunes. Pounti is a speciality of Aveyron. It can be eaten hot or cold and is typical of those rural dishes that are a meal in themselves. You can find it at charcuteries and local markets.
Mique au petit salé: in the old days, people used to leave mique to rise beneath an eiderdown. This method is no longer in use but mique is still eaten, especially in Lot. It is made by plunging a large dough ball into a pot of stock in which petit salé (salt pork), vegetables and maybe an andouille sausage have been simmering for a long time. Before being shared out among the dinner guests, the moist mique is served up in pride of place, surrounded by its rustic companion dishes.
Millas: this dessert, made from corn meal, is popular in Midi-Pyrénées and especially in Ariège, Lot and Haute Garonne. Millas takes the form of a solid straw-yellow block. It is cut into slices, which are then fried with either a small or a large amount of butter. Millas traditionally marked the end of the ‘fête du cochon’ pig festival, and was synonymous with family meals.
Pumpet: this fine-sounding cake takes the form of a thick square of unevenly browned flaky pastry. Its unrefined appearance hardly suggests that the diners are in for a rapturous tasting experience. However, once heated in the oven, pumpet takes on a melt-in-the-mouth yet crisp texture and gives off tantalising aromas of orange blossom and lemon or orange zest. This dessert dish from the Montagne Noire in the south of Tarn is available from bakeries in Labruguière and Dourgne, for example.