Pork Rillettes, La Belle Chaurienne

‘La Belle Chaurienne’ was launched by Michel Cauquil in 1964 after he had spent a number of years working as a canner and at his father’s butchers shop in Castres. He developed a number of recipes while working at the butchers, to increase sales of lesser known cuts of beef and was eventually asked by a wholesaler in Aude, to create a cassoulet recipe, which quickly became famous in the region.

When he turned 30 in 1964, he moved to Castelnaudary in Aude with his wife and founded his cassoulet cannery called ‘La Belle Chaurienne’. ‘Chauriennes’ are the inhabitants of Castelnaudary, a small town in the Aude in the South of France, famous for their delicious cassoulet, so the name was perfect!

The business was an immediate and huge success and the team quickly expanded, eventually taking on the larger building next door to increase production. La Belle Chaurienne has now been making traditional French dishes for over 60 years and is famous across France and, indeed now, the world. Many of their products have been winning taste awards for decades.