Aligot, an ancestral Aubrac speciality

Legendary dishes

Aubrac

This takes us back to the time of the Merovingians, in the year 590.

In Clermont Ferrand, king Eulalius had a dispute with his wife. So the bishops of the dioceses of Auvergne, Rouergue and Gévaudan got together to give a ruling on the case. They met at the junction between the three departments, on the Aubrac.

After their endless discussions, the invigorating air of the plateau had whetted the appetites of the three bishops. The one from Auvergne had brought potatoes, the one from Rouergue had brought cheese, butter and milk, and the one from Gévaudan had brought garlic and salt from trade with Spain.

They gave their provisions to a local cheese-maker. He mixed them all together in a large cauldron, which he placed over an open fire, stirring it from time to time with a wooden spoon. He carried the dish out to the meadow where the famished bishops set about tasting it. They were so delighted that each of them wanted to take a bowlful away with him. But every time they tried to scoop up a spoonful, the mixture stretched, but wouldn’t give way.

So they decided to leave the new dish, which became the culinary specialty of the Aubrac.

You can visit the cross of the three bishops on the Aubrac after sampling a tasty dish of Aligot!