Le Puy-en-Velay is a town in the countryside. And that's true ! The rural nature of our town allows you to discover good products that you can buy directly from producers, on the farm and on the markets. The opportunity to taste good local cheeses, fruits and vegetables, local cold meats or even regional breads and honeys.
The queen green lentil PDO
from Puy-en-Velay
Lentils have been cultivated in Velay for at least 2000 years. Protected from the humid currents of the Atlantic by the Aubrac, Margeride and Cévennes mountains, it acquires specific characteristics during its cultivation. Since 1996, it has been the subject of a Protected Designation of Origin. Its appellation area, which extends from the Devès plateaus to the Puy basin, benefits from a foehn effect which makes it unique.
When harvested, it is distinguished by a thinner skin, a sweet almond and a high content of trace elements. These characteristics, in addition to cooking twice as quickly, give it a delicate taste and a unique flavor. The richness of green lentils in protein, its starch and its iron (more than in spinach!) make it a complete food.
Taste the green lentil
in our restaurants
Green Verbena
from Puy-en-Velay
Verbena liqueur is one of the emblematic products of Velay, whose family production is still widespread according to recipes passed down from generation to generation.
Liqueur makers draw inspiration from local practices and use similar processes. They use both “infusions”, obtained by macerating the verbena leaves in alcohol for several weeks, and verbena “alcoholates”, obtained by distilling the verbena leaves with alcohol in stills. in copper. Added to this are distillates of aromatic plants and spices and of course sugar.
Tomme cheese
TO THE ARTISOUS
Tomme aux artisous is a farmhouse cheese made from raw cow's milk. Volcanic Velay is characterized by mid-mountain landscapes, rich basalt soil and a particular climate due to the altitude of the plateau. This land offers cows rich grass, particularly in magnesium.
The cheeses made with their milk are superbly robust and allow for prolonged storage. Made exclusively by farms and by hand, the originality of this local cheese lies above all in its maturing. In fact, it is placed in the cellar on poplar racks allowing the development of a mite called artison (artisou in dialect) which gives it an inimitable taste and appearance.
Find the artisous cheese
at farmers' markets
Craft beers
DU VELAY
Velay is no exception to the tradition of craft beer brewers! Vellavia is a true traditional beer. In 1870, the volcanic Velay high plateau was recognized as a preferred land for growing malting barley. Malt houses and breweries were then established in Velay.
The barley cultivated is “Ponote”, an exceptional barley, renowned for the large size of its grains, the richness of its kernel and the intense smell of its straw. Today, farmers still cultivate Ponote, market their own beer and thus revive the brewing tradition. Other micro breweries have emerged in the region and now perpetuate the local beer culture!
The hypocras
the ponot aperitif
Rediscovered in 1989 thanks to the King of Bird Festivals. Hypocras is today recognized as the regional aperitif of the Ponot basin. Made from red or white wine, spices and honey, Hypocras is consumed very fresh, as an aperitif or dessert wine.
Le Puy-en-Velay
historic city plants and infusions
Velay is an exceptional terroir due to its geography and climate. It has generated remarkable mountain flora and given birth to a thousand-year-old tradition of making infusions in Puy-en-Velay. Heir to this ancestral practice, Pagès is the oldest infusion house in France.
Today, the products are still made with the same passion and the same values of authenticity and naturalness.
The producers' route
DU VELAY
The Tourist Office and the Puy-en-Velay Agglomeration have initiated the promotion of local producers who make up the gastronomic richness of our Vella region with the creation of the Velay producers’ route !
Take the route of the producers, because nothing beats a direct meeting with them; they are ready to welcome you and give you time. These men and women have sculpted the gastronomic identity of Velay which extends from the Casadean plateaus to the Loire gorges, obviously passing through Puy-en-Velay.
They will be proud and happy to invite you to share the fruit of their work. They have one and the same objective: to sell their quality products directly to “consumers”. By choosing local circuits, you consume quality products and strengthen the local economy.
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