Medieval Mirepoix, Ariege, south of France
The Mirepoix Market, every Monday, is to the delight of everyone who arrives. Hand-packed, regionally grown gastronomique delicacies sold by the growers themselves are too many to count. From olives to cassoulet, this is a market not to be missed. Lucky those who live here and come every week as a part of their normal life!
I’d stumbled upon this market accidentally on an earlier road trip into Cathar country, and marked it as a go-to whenever in the south of France…
Wanting to get to the market early, both for cooler temperatures and less people, I arrived and parked 2 walking blocks from the medieval square, rambunctious with color and the quintessential buzz that you only find in a TREASURE of a small town, such as this one at 9 o’clock.
Good thing too because by the time I left, near noon, it was wall to wall crawl. Though I don’t think I’d mind that — Mirepoix has it all. Artisan everything, from cheeses to gourmet cassoulet, packed and sealed, handmade jewelry, leather goods, volumes of produce — I decided on lunch and dinner both at the market.
Lunch was from a father/daughter food stand, making THE best fresh falafel ever, and a lush taboulé … dinner?
And a barquette (package) of roast potato slices and halved tomatoes … I came back to my site, had a taste to discover these simple potatoes had been tossed with massive amounts of roasted minced garlic and parsley, the same which covered the tops of the tomatoes, both cooked under the dripping poulets roasing above them …
Add to that a mix of célérité rouladre and carotte râpé, a little cheese, a chunk of pain pave bouchon, and some glorious Fitou, I was indeed a happy camper.
