Pastel

Pastel is the emblematic plant of the Pays de Cocagne: it made its wealth and its fame.

During Antiquity, Pastel was used for its healing properties and also for dyeing after crushing and drying the plant. As early as the Middle Ages, fresh leaves were used for dyeing and soon after one started producing “the cocagne” (a ball of fermented leaves for the first time), and then came the Pastel “agranat” (tinctorial powder from the second fermentation) which will be exported at the end of medieval times. The production and trade of the agranat made the fortune of the Pays de Cocagne, a golden triangle between Toulouse, Albi and Carcassonne (XVI century). Located in the Cocagne Country, our territory has benefited from its success, Witness to this are wealthy mansions that you can find to this day in our villages and particularly in Puylaurens. Not far from there, the Musée de Magrin and the Château des Plantes bear witness to this rich past for the former and to the renewal of this culture for the latter. Another picturesque heritage is the, many dovecotes that dot our territory, linked to the Pastel history too as the droppings of the columbines were used to enrich the land and cultivate the pastel.