France head coach Fabien Galthié made his mark this weekend not on the touchline but… on a cookery panel. In the Lot, at Salviac, he judged the contestants of the World Mique Championship, a local competition built around the traditional Quercy dish.
This weekend, Fabien Galthié swapped the whistle and the ball for a ball of dough: the coach, a native of the Lot, and more precisely of Montgesty, a village of around 350 inhabitants, took his seat on the judging panel of the World Mique Championship, held at Salviac.
The “mique”, a regional speciality, is rolled into a ball of leavened dough, poached in a broth, then traditionally served with salt pork and vegetables. Galthié explained to our colleagues at La Dépêche du Midi that the dish “came from the poor“, and that it represents his “roots, [his] childhood“.
Après cinq années d’absence, c'était le retour du championnat du monde de la mique dans le Lot, ce plat traditionnel avec une boule de pâte levée, cuite dans un bouillon, et qui se mange avec du petit salé et des légumes. Fabien Galthié, faisait partie du jury. pic.twitter.com/9AipQOQXAn
— La Dépêche du Midi (@ladepechedumidi) October 18, 2025
“This is seriously top level!”
For the occasion, he had to taste several entries and separate the contestants. On that score, he said: “I think that, on principle, a mique is good. It’s always good. This is seriously top level! It’s the world championship, so this is the very, very, very top level of mique.“
The event, run by the local association “Super Cantou”, brought together some 640 guests and handed the prize to the “Alliance des générations” team. This nod to his rural and regional origins allows Galthié to reconnect with his traditions, far from the bustle of France’s preparation and its sporting stakes. While also serving as a reminder that, even in the world of regional gastronomy, standards are high.
As a reminder, the France head coach is expected to announce his squad for the November tour on Wednesday.
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