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Region : Pays
de la Loire
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| Situation
géographique : |
In the northwest
region of France,
the Pays de la Loire are enclosed between Brittany and the Central Region.
Departments : Loire
Atlantique (44), Mayenne (53), Maine et Loire (49), Sarthe (72), Vendée
(85) |
| Généralités
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The Pays de la Loire
have a privileged climatic situation, the climate being temperate and mild.
Freezes are quite rare and agricultural
and wine production is thus favored (the region is called
the "garden of France"). An agricultural region,
numerous butchers and cattle breeders also abound. |
| A.O.C,
I.G.P. and labels (source
Ministère Agriculture) |
Regional
specialties |
A.O.C.
I.G.P. et "red labels":
Chicken, capon, fatted chicken,
turkey and guinea-fowl from Cholet (IGP and Red Label)
Chicken, capon, fatted chicken,
turkey and guinea-fowl from Val de Loire (IGP Ancenis and Val de Sèvres)
Chicken, capon, fatted chicken,
hen, turkey, duck and Guinea-fowl from Loué (IGP)
Poulet, turkey, goose and
guinea-fowl from Mayenne
Chapon, fatted chicken and
turkey from Touraine
Rabbit from Saint-Robin ,
Mâche
Nantaise (IGP), farm-raised pork from la Sarthe (IGP), farm-raised
beef from Maine (IGP), Atlantic sea salt/salt from Guérande
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Gogue d'Ancenis (Swiss chard,
onions, pork fat, meat and blood stuffed into a bladder), Rillettes from
Mans, Tapioca and
starch
Pâtisserie, boulangerie
et confiserie :
Nantes cookies, Nantes cake in the
form of a crown, Nantes cake, little mouzillon (cookies), hard candies from Nantes,
Rigolette nantaise (another hard candy), plum pâté, Galette
de Doué-la-fontaine,
Quernon d'ardoise (caramelized nougat with almonds and hazelnuts covered in a
blue chocolate coating), kiln-dried apples |
| Local
alcohols |
Cheeses |
Cointreau
Guignolet
Menthe-Pastille
Expressions locales:
fillette, chopine pour certaines boissons
The wine region is covered in a separate
area. |
Curé Nantais
cheese
Port Salut (Mayenne) |
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| Local
wine and food pairings |
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Pike, salmon, trout... Nantes butter:
White wine: Muscadet or Gros plant du pays Nantais
Chicken angevine : Light red wine:
Chinon, Saint-Nicolas de Bourgueil
Duck from Challan, kidneys
Baugé : Coarser red wine: Saumur rouge or vin de Touraine
Comice pear tart : White semi-sweet
wine or Bonnezeaux liqueur or Quart de Chaume
Apéritif : Vouvray or
sparkling Montlouis
Digestive : Cointreau
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Local facts
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Area
: 32 125 km2
Population
: 3 000 000 hab
Agriculture
: market produce, cattle breeding and wine production |
| Produits
bruts régionaux |
| Fish |
Sea: Croisic
cockles, Bouchot mussels, sea bass, sardines.
Fresh water: Pike,
Eels, Perch, Loire Salmon, Eels |
| Vegetables |
Légumes: Nantes
carrots and early leeks, mâche, Nantes radishes,
asparagus, gray shallots, oyster mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, Anjou
cornette (salad), Noirmoutier potatoes
Fruits: blackcurrants,
strawberries, raspberries, Comice pear, Mans apple |
| Animals |
Dovecotes,
Loué chicken, grainfed
beef from Maine. |
| Other |
Guérande
salt, Anjou millet (cereal) |
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Spécialités
culinaires (exemples)
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Entrées
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Scallops à la nantaise
Grenouilles des marais à
la crème |
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Plats
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Veal butt à l'angevine
Pork roast with Mans apples
Veal liver à la
baugeoise
Pike au beurre blanc
Sea bass baked in Guérande
salt
Eel stew |
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Desserts
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Nantes cake
Pears belle-angevine in red wine
Crês à l'angevine |
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Grands chefs régionaux
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| Maurice Edmond Sailland
dit Cunrnonsky |
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Divers, pour information
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The Noirmoutier
potato:
The sand, the sea spray,
seaweed and an ancestral know-how, give birth to the early potato of the Isle
of Noirmoutier. It pale yellow color, juicy flesh and
slightly fruity aroma make it exceptional. First in the Parisian and Nantes markets,
it is honored by the connaisseurs and grand chefs of French cuisine.
Farm-raised chickens from
Loué :they are raised in small buildings bathed in natural light.
They have access from the time they get their first feathers to a vast unbound
grassy areat wiht a minimum of 4 cubic meters per bird reserved for their use.
Their feed consists of at least 80% cereals, without wheat or animal fat, and
without any growth hormones. The white chickens of Loué are raised a minimum
of 87 days prior to market.
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