Like the nearby Périgord, the Quercy region is renowned for its foie gras and other duck dishes, such as magrets de canard (duck breast) or confit de canard (duck simmered and then preserved in its own fat).

Other regional delicacies include truffles - the 'Black Diamond' - on sale in a traditional open-air market in Lalbenque, every Tuesday between December 1st and March 31st. In Summer, try the mouth-watering local strawberry: the garriguette, and - at any time of the year - the local cabecou cheeses, (also known as 'Rocamadours') made from goats' milk.

Quercy is also renowned for its lamb - L'agneau fermier de Quercy, while a seasonal speciality of the Lot is the white asparagus, which flourishes in May and June. For dessert, buy a pastis: not the liquorice-tasting drink of the same name, but a kind of patisserie made from ultra-fine layers of flaky pastry surrounding baked apple mixed with plum brandy. Plums from Agen, together with chestnuts and walnuts from all over the region, complete the line-up of the region's specialities, about which you can read more on the Lot Tourism and Quercy-Net websites.

Wine

Cahors is one of the oldest wine-growing areas in France. In its heydey in the middle ages, the region produced far more wine - and of a higher quality - than the neighbouring Bordeaux, exporting more than three times its current annual production to England alone. And then came the phylloxera, at the end of the nineteeenth century, which completely wiped out most local wine-growers. Luckily, new vines were imported, and since the 1970s, Cahors has once more become established as a fine, quality wine. And it is generally much less expensive than its better-known Bordeaux neighbour.

The primary grape in the Cahors wine is Malbec, which is tannic and velvety, producing a very dark vintage, known as the 'Black Wine'. It is sometimes blended with Merlot, to soften the taste, but the best, most velvety wines are made with 100% Malbec.

Some of our favourites - and an indicative price per bottle you would pay for a reasonable year - are as follows: