The inhabitants of Saint-Gaudens know violets well in granulated sugar made in Toulouse. The flower, which appears in French gardens around 1755, comes from Italy. But its culture does not develop only from 1854, north of Toulouse, in Saint-Jory. In the 1930s, there were nearly 600 producers of this winter flower!
In the south of France, the art of candying flowers is as old as that of candying fruit! In the Middle Ages, the violet was used in the composition of violat, a highly sought-after therapeutic drink. Crystallized violets were probably invented before the end of the 19th century. From the beginning, they were used to decorate pastries, and to flavor creams or drinks thanks to their sweet and sweet scent! Unfortunately, the terrible winter of 1956 has wreaked havoc and many horticulturists and their families give up growing it. Since the 90s, it has aroused renewed interest and enthusiasts are doing everything to restore it to its former glory!
On the side of Peyragudes, we are on a product a little less poetic but just as good: the Tarbais bean, also called “ingot” ! It is white and it is dried before cooking, it is the essential ingredient of cassoulet for example.
Like all other bean varieties, it entered Europe following the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, but did not arrive in France until the following century, when the future King Henry II married Catherine de Medici, who brought them in her luggage! It is planted in the southwest, right next to the corn, coming from the same continent, and which serves as its guardian. He acclimatizes perfectly and quickly replaces the beans consumed by the locals, because it keeps better.
And then, in the 1950s, it almost disappeared… It was threatened by the intensive production of maize, and therefore by the spreading of herbicides on this plant! And then, in 1986, Tarbes beans were relaunched! He gets a Geographical Indication Protected in 2000. Now, it is exported to Japan, the USA, on the biggest tables in the world. Perhaps even thanks to the Tour de France and its cyclists, it has not finished making progress!