"Do you have some Aligot?" "I got" "that is so cheesy" "So is the dish"

Aligot is a dish that serves to simultaneously cleanse and please the palate. The Aligot dish that can be simple made like this, is a dish made simple out of cheese combined with mashed potatoes and a dash of garlic. The dish first originated  in L'Aubrac region in southern Massif Central of France, it is generally presented in a neat bowl served immediately with a meat of their choosing. 


Although not as authentic as traditional french cuisines it holds an intrinsic identity to the French culture. The simple ingredients it holds, such as the potato has a long history with the Europeans and typical with the french. As depicted in my previous blog post, the potato had had its uses during the famine pre-revoltion, in fact some in might have been overused during those times as it was sometimes the only source of food.


However the main flavour comes from the exquisite cheese, primarily the Tomm de laguiole originating in Aveyron in the southern part of France. But why this cheese? Well, according to historical accounts, the monks passed down the recipe for making this cheese from cattle during the alpages to the local buronnierts, the owners of burons, or mountains huts. They describe it as "It is this surprisingly tender on the palate leaving a persisently wettish sensation". These combinations of simple flavours mixed with a handful of garlic gives a nice fatty sensation.