Description
The Volailles du Lauragais PGI are mighty and resistant animals, which lay eggs early.
Production Area
The production area of Volailles du Lauragais PGI is located in the following departments: Haute-Garonne, Aude, Tarn and some neighbouring municipal areas, in the Midi-Pyrenees and Languedoc-Roussillon regions.
Production Method
The animals are raised in the open air and in farms, and nurtured with cereals. During the breeding phase, the access to grassy areas is fundamental to refine the characteristics of Volailles du Lauragais PGI. These grassy areas are shaded, well-oriented and equipped with watering points and cribs.
Appearance and Flavour
Volailles du Lauragais PGI have fine and compact fowl and are much appreciated due to the beauty of their feathers, which are dense and fading in colour, which can be white, salmon, maroon, black and ermine tone. The fully raised cock weighs 3.5 kg to 4 kg, while hen, which is smaller, can achieve 3.5 kg. There is also a dwarfish breed.
History
The history of Volailles du Lauragais PGI is closely linked to the one of its home land. The Lauragais area underwent a golden period between the 15th and 16th century thanks to the intensive cultivation of pastel, a tree from which were extracted the blue pigments used for dyeing. This economic growth made the region largely populous and rich, and already in those years the land was characterized by small breeding farms of winged animals to satisfy the local needs. A further economical development took place in the 18th century, when the Canal du Midi was excavated and this enabled to connect Marseille with Bordeaux.
Gastronomy
The Volailles du Lauragais PGI can be conserved for a few days in the refrigerator, wrapped into the purchasing paper and stored in the coldest compartment. The fowl can be cooked in different ways depending on the product which can be whole or in slices and, in this last case, depending on the cut chosen. The French, culinary tradition processes poultry by means of quite complex cooking methods. Sauté in butter, with the addition of foie gras or seasoned with truffle. Every second course made of Volailles du Lauragais PGI poultry is served with sauces and creams and combined with roasted or fresh vegetables.
Marketing
The Volailles du Lauragais PGI include the product types which refer to the varieties of poultry of the denomination, individually written on the package, amongst which there are poulet jaune fermier, chapon fermière, poularde fermière (farm yellow chicken, farm capon, farm pullet). The product is sold both whole and in slices, with or without head, fresh and frozen, packed in suitable trays with protected atmosphere to guarantee a longer conservation and keep unaltered the organoleptic features of fowl, accompanied by all the indications on the product.
Distinctive Features
Resistant and mighty, Volailles du Lauragais PGI have very fine and tasteful fowl due to the specific selection of the breed, to the slaughtering age and the diet rich of cereals and to the particular breeding method, which enables the poultry to eat what they find in the grassy areas where it can go very early, about six weeks after hatching.
