Tradition


The Sundgau: Nature and culture in the hills

In southern Alsace, the Sundgau offers visitors a quality of life permeated with nature.

A picturesque, wild environment with pools, forests and lively traditional rural villages; the entire region has an original and authentic charm and surprising variety. Along the Fried Carp Routes, country landscapes blend with a picturesque rural scene where inns offer succulent food in friendly settings. It was only natural for the region to receive the «Site Remarquable du Goût» (Remarkable culinary site) award from the National Council of Culinary Arts.

Delicious fried Carp : a secret to be shared

Attractive and relaxing, the Sundgau is also renowned for good food. Restaurant owners on the Fried Carp Routes are happy to offer you their delicious dishes and do justice to the regional gastronomy. Their speciality, the carp, is a real star in this region of fish. Prepared with the best regional products, the different varieties of Fried Carp will reveal traditional skills, pleasantly complemented by the local wines.

The legend of the golden carp

A long time ago, the son of the Count of Ferrette enjoyed walking along the Liebsdorf village. One day, he met a young sheperdess whose beauty dazzled him. He fell fully in love of the beautiful girl but was too shy to express his feelings. He thus decided to engrave a poem of love on the stone where she used to rest. Charmed by the message, she accepted the wedding proposal from the knight.

However, the Count of Ferrette was against this wedding. Believing it would be impossible, the Count, asked the young sheperdess to accomplish a feat that would make her worthy of this wedding. Selfconfident, the young girl offered him to taste the mysterious Golden Fish. Curious, he accepted.

She then went fishing a few carps that she cooked her own way in the oil. The Count of Ferrette was so delighted by the delicious carps that he accepted the wedding between his son and the shepherdess. He also built for them a castle on the stone where the love poem had been engraved. Today, this place is known under the name of Liebenstein, which means the love stone.

Since then, the carp and chips is a very famous meal in the Sundgau ..."