Le petit Pâté de Pézenas is like a cotton reel, and is a pastry filled with sweet and spicy mutton. 

You can eat them as a starter, or with a salad or even as a dessert. 

  The story is that during the 18th century Clive of India stayed at a nearby chateau and had an Indian servant who prepared them as they were one of his favourite delicacies. 

The locals also found them very tasty, so the servant then taught the local patissiers how to make them.  So these little pastries are now the local speciality!

like many cities in Languedoc, Pézenas had a substantial Jewish population in the 13th and 14th centuries, coming from Italy, Spain and Portugal.

The Ghetto is a reminder of this community, who were eventually expelled at the end of the 14th century - one of the last to leave France.

By the 19th century, the area had become famous for its wine production.

  After the vine disease Phylloxera destroyed nearly all of the French vineyards, this region was one of the first to restock using resistant stock from the Unitied States. 

Consequently, this brought a wine boom and great wealth to the town.  Today, the town is entirely surrounded by vineyards.

Unfortunately, the town could not match the industrial wealth of the north in the 20th century and became one of the poorest towns in the country. 

It suffered from its marshy surrounds and it was not until the draining programs of the late 20th century that it knew a renaissance. 

The Languedoc area became a sought after holiday destination, and locals and tourists alike began to appreciate the historical past and treasures of the old town.