The French cake cooked on a spit is just the beginning

The gâteau à la broche is a cake cooked on a spit over hot charcoal. Somewhere between a cake, pancake and a waffle is this sweet snack from the Occitanie region of France - in particular, the Pyrenees. Made by pouring multiple layers of cake batter onto a rotating conical-shaped mould, the gâteau à la broche can be anywhere between ten centimetres high to one metre long and vary anywhere up to five kilos in weight. This cake is shared on special occasions like family reunions, special birthdays and religious celebrations and has become such an iconic sweet that it even has its own society, Confrérie du Gâteau à la Broche (the Brotherhood of the Cake on a Spit), in Arreau. Every summer, there's a cake’s festival that takes place in this city and you'll want to enjoy your spit-roasted-cake with a glass of champagne before a meal or served as a dessert with a crème anglaise - a runny egg custard.

Cassoulet Carcassonne is one of the most-loved regional French dishes and is another speciality of the Occitanie region, which is west of Provence. The recipe varies from town to town, but it always contains beans and pork meat and, very often, confit duck and is cooked slowly in the oven with a golden crust on top. It is one of the best specialities of France and it's a wonderful winter one-pot wonder, especially with a glass (or two!) of full-bodied red wine.

Get saucy with bouillabaisse

The charcuterie of Brittany is some of the best and original in France. The French simply adore their cold cuts and the centre of Brittany is very rural and prime charcuterie territory, as most small farmers raise a few pigs for their own consumption. Over the centuries, the art of preserving pork meat, using every part of the pig, has provided exciting meals for the rude winter months and divine platters for snacking.

French butter is one of the most delicious in the world. Thanks to the temperate climate and good rainfall that enhance the growth of rich wild grass, weeds and field flowers, that cows can produce such rich milk. French chefs and pastry chefs love to use it in their creations and good-quality butter absolutely sings in croissant, pastries and cakes. Bring on the buttery delights, we say! Butter - Taste le Tour with Gabriel Gaté.

Don't skimp on the butter

French bread is some of the most-loved bread in the world. The smell of freshly-baked loaves, the texture and that moment when you pull it apart and enjoy it simply with a little butter or cheese. Who doesn’t like a crusty baguette or pain de Campagne? Le pain is the French staple food, for what grows well in many French regions, but particularly south of Paris around the great city of Chartres - which has come to be known as the breadbasket of France. Local millers have perfected the art of blending different types of wheat to obtain the most suitable wheat to produce outstanding bread.

A delicious French cheese flavoured with poppies was created by talented cheesemonger Julien Planchon whose shop is in the central market of the city of Amiens in Picardy. Basically, an organic goat's cheese flavoured with poppy called le poppie, this delicate cheese is a tribute to ANZAC soldiers who fought in the north of France during the Great War, during which thousands of Australian soldiers lost their lives to help free the region.

Soufflé, is there anything more epic, more satisfying? This French classic is always fun to conquer and with a little TLC and some patience, you too could be in your soufflé happy place. While the silky top is tugging at our heartstrings, its the romance that has us hook, line and sinker. Who wants a spoon?

Master the soufflé

Taste le Tour with Gabriel Gaté airs every night from Saturday 7 July and finishes Sunday 29 July 2018. Visit the Taste le Tour website to catch-up on episodes online, scroll through recipes or find out more about the show.

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