La spécialité gastronomique de Romans : La Raviole

This speciality consisting of pasta squares stuffed with cheese and parsley is a cousin of Italian ravioli and Russian pelmeni.

indeed it would seem that they share similar origins. The story goes that Italian charcoal burners and woodcutters who came to work in the Royans-Vercors area simply came up with a variation on their native ravioli, replacing the meat inside (a rare treat in France at the time!) with goat’s cheese. Once regarded as a poor man’s version of ravioli, it soon became a popular treat on public holidays. In the early 20th century, professional raviole cooks, known as ravioleuses, popularised the dish, which by then was regarded as a proper dish in its own right. Mère Maury (Marie- Louise Gélibert) was one of the first generation of ravioleuses, serving up the speciality in her famous café-restaurant.