Free-range lamb

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Free-range lamb

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Cooking lamb Lamb can be prepared in a large number of ways and is commonly used in stews. Leg of lamb and the famous lamb shank, served with a lightly sweetened sauce, are particularly tasty. Vladimira Dvorakova / age fotostock;

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Vegetarians, be warned! This magnificent area of forests, valleys, greenery and chirping songbirds is also a paradise for meat lovers...
Cold sausages, ham, veal-based 'Fricandeau', veal tripe 'Tripoux', 'Truffade', lamb tripe 'Manouls', 'Maôche' sausages (made with cabbage, potatoes and herbs), and so on; from the very first course, your meal will be full of different kinds of cured meat and pork.
Next up are the dishes showcasing wild boar and Lozère beef.
However, for many diners the high point of the meal is free-range lamb.
These beasts are produced according to a very strict set of specifications, and the Parc National des Cévennes is stipulated as the only place where they may raised. The instructions set out that lambs born in the spring must be fed only on their mother's milk and the grass growing in the area (with the addition, from time to time, of local grain or chestnuts), and can be sold only between the 1st July and the 31st December.
The set of rules, which is admittedly quite restrictive, keeps alive the traditional ways of raising animals, preserves the quality of the landscape and promotes biodiversity, while also helping produce the most divine of meats!