mique

Mique is the southwest word for crumb, or mie. It’s also a special dish: a big flour dumpling made with corn (or wheat) flour, yeast, duck fat, milk and eggs, cooked in chicken broth, with cabbage, carrots and salted pork, although you can do it with fancier fare such as a poule au pot or a civet or a petit-salé.

A mique sardalaise is a bit different, made with bread crumbs and lardons, eggs, milk, butter, crushed garlic, goose fat, yeast and sometimes truffles, cooked in bouillon and served with a goose confit (confit d’oie).

It was long a staple in old Quercy and Périgord. Traditional restaurants and ferme auberges still make it once in a while; a good one should be light and fluffy (ones that aren’t sufficiently kneaded can be like cement). In the old days left overs would be sliced and fried in duck or goose fat, topped with bacon and egg, or made into pain perdu.

A mique can also mean a big round loaf of bread.