fin gras du Mézenc

Fin gras du Mézenc might sound like a special kind of fat if you see it on the menu, but it’s really a very special beef from the Ardèche and Haute-Loire raised in the mountains that divide the Atlantic-bound tributaries of the Loire from the Mediterranean-bound rivers flowing into the Rhône.

In the old days, farmers would fatten cows and steers too old for working over the winter in barns, feeding them hay mixed with wild herbs from the mountain meadows that gives the meat its special flavor. The same techniques are used today.