Dordogne cuisine highlights above all the quality products of its region and its producers. Truffles, porcini mushrooms, nuts, chestnuts but also dishes with duck and goose. Foie gras is essential on a table in Périgord. Find here everything that makes up the culinary tradition of the southwest.
What is the essential dish of Périgord gastronomy?
If you ask this question in Périgord, the answer will undoubtedly be: duck foie gras, and sarladaise potatoess. But another recipe is also very popular: the porcini mushroom omelette. Here are the gastronomic essentials offered in the restaurants and inns of Périgord. The quality of tourism in the Dordogne is also its cuisine and its specialties.
Duck liver and potatoes with goose fat
As a starter, foie gras is offered cooked or semi-cooked in slices, but fans may prefer a piece of fresh liver, just pan-fried.
To continue the meal, a good duck breast with “sarladaise potatoes” (from Sarlat) cooked in goose (or duck) fat with garlic and parsley.
The simple porcini omelette
A few eggs, a few heads of porcini mushrooms picked fresh, a tablespoon of goose or duck fat, some parsley and that's it.
A small salad with walnuts completes this Périgord specialty. Ideal before or after a walk along the Vézère or the Dordogne.
What are the specialties of Périgord?
Périgord culinary specialties allow you to create complete menus using only local products. They are present on the village markets in the Vézère valley, in the regions of Sarlat, Bergerac, Périgueux or Nontron, at reasonable prices.
Everything is good in the duck
The recipes most often proposed by Périgourdins are those around duck.
- The different forms of foie gras: cooked, semi-cooked, pan-fried;
- The confits;
- The duck breasts;
- Gizzards, which are generally offered in salad;
- And of course goose or duck fat which is used as a base for many cooking methods.
The wealth of the land and forests of Périgord
In the accompaniments, you will not fail to taste Sarladaise potatoes, ceps and chanterelles. The salads are seasoned with'nut oil produced locally and decorated with kernels of these same nuts.
Finally, we do not forget the queen of Périgord: the scams, the black gold of Périgord gastronomy. A specialty present on the tables of restaurants in the region.
But also pork and cheese
It is less known but in Dordogne, we often find on the tables of the hot one of Périgord. Roast pork cooked with goose fat and garlic. It is most often eaten cold.
On the cheese side, we find the cabecou but also Trappe d'Echourgnac, a cheese produced by Cistercian Sisters.
A multitude of fruits
Here are the most specific:
- Chestnut: fruit, flour (for cakes);
- The nut: fruit, oil, wine;
- La Périgord strawberry
Wine from the Bergerac region
The Vézère valley, formerly covered with vineyards, no longer has any production. Wine lovers now enjoy Bergerac wine in moderation, the best producers of which are recognized in France and internationally.
In which restaurants can you taste Dordogne specialties?
Around ten starred restaurants are located in Périgord.
In the Dordogne valley but also in the regions of Périgueux and Bergerac as well as in the north of the department. In the Vézère valley, the Glycines restaurant: 1862 obtained its 1st star in 2022.
Truffles and the best local products are promoted there.
By visiting us in our tourist offices or chatting in the village markets, you will certainly find the address of an inn, a family restaurant where the specialties of Périgord gastronomy are offered at reasonable prices.