The Auvergne lexicon, all the useful words
Saint-Nectaire AOP, truffade, gentian, Chaîne des Puys, Salers, Puy green lentils. We explain each term in a few factual sentences, with links to the pages that cover them.
Cheeses
Saint-Nectaire AOP
AOP cheese from the Puy-de-Dôme and the Cantal, uncooked pressed paste, bloomy rind, aged for at least 28 days on rye straw.
Cantal AOP
AOP cheese from the Cantal, uncooked pressed paste, drier than Saint-Nectaire. Three ages: young (jeune), medium (entre-deux), old (vieux).
Salers AOP
AOP cheese from the Cantal, made only with raw milk from Salers cows, summer production (15 April to 15 November).
Bleu d'Auvergne AOP
AOP blue cheese from Auvergne, milder and creamier than Roquefort. Cow's milk, created at the end of the 19th century.
Fourme d'Ambert AOP
AOP blue cheese from the Puy-de-Dôme and the Forez, round and tall (19 cm), milder than Bleu d'Auvergne.
Dishes
Truffade
A dish of sautéed potatoes and fresh Cantal tome, crushed together into a flat cake. A speciality of the Cantal mountains.
Aligot
Mashed potato whipped with fresh tome cheese until it turns stringy. A speciality of the Aubrac and southern Cantal.
Pounti
A sweet-and-savoury Cantal terrine made with sausage meat, Swiss chard, prunes and flour. Served in slices.
Lentille verte du Puy AOP
AOP lentil from Haute-Loire, thin skin, slate-green colour. The first AOP lentil in France (1996).
Drinks
Gentiane
A yellow-flowered mountain plant (Gentiana lutea) whose root is distilled to make the bitter aperitifs of the Massif Central.
Verveine du Velay
A Haute-Loire herbal liqueur (32 species, including common vervain), created in 1859 by Joseph Rumillet-Charretier.
Vin de Saint-Pourçain AOC
AOC vineyard of the Allier (since 2009), 600 hectares. Grape varieties: tressallier, chardonnay, sauvignon for whites; pinot noir, gamay for reds.
Côtes d'Auvergne AOC
AOC vineyard of Puy-de-Dôme (since 2010), 5 village designations: Châteaugay, Boudes, Chanturgue, Madargue, Corent.
Geography
Chaîne des Puys
A line of 80 volcanoes over 45 km in the Puy-de-Dôme. A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2018.
Puy de Dôme
Highest point of the Chaîne des Puys (1,465 m). 360° view over the Massif Central. Rack railway from Orcines.
Puy de Sancy
The highest point of the Massif Central (1,885 m), in the heart of the Sancy massif. Cable car from Le Mont-Dore.
Plomb du Cantal
Cantal's highest summit (1,855 m), the second highest in the Massif Central. High-altitude summer pastures, with the Le Lioran ski resort close by.
Cézallier
A volcanic plateau between the Sancy and the Cantal (1,200-1,500 m). Summer pastures as far as the eye can see, wildlife, slow, contemplative hikes.
Heritage
Art roman auvergnat
A school of Romanesque architecture from the 11th-12th centuries. Five “major churches”: Notre-Dame-du-Port, Orcival, Issoire, Saint-Nectaire, Saint-Saturnin.
Chemin de Compostelle (Via Podiensis)
The Le Puy-en-Velay route, one of the four historic French routes to Santiago de Compostela. UNESCO-listed since 1998.
Plus Beaux Villages de France
A label awarded to remarkable villages (since 1982). 8 listed villages in Auvergne: Charroux, Salers, Tournemire, Lavaudieu, Blesle, Pradelles, Arlempdes, Saint-Floret, Saint-Saturnin, Usson, Montpeyroux.