Flavours From France

The Greengage: the Royal Plum

Originally coming from Eastern countries, the greengage was brought in France and dedicated since the 16^th century to Claude, first wife of the king François 1er, giving its French name to the plum: Reine-Claude.

The climate of France South-West area is perfect to cultivate this plum, which was awarded a "Label Rouge" as a proof of the care taken in its cultivation. Thus, greengages orchards are rather small and the yield is weaker than the one of other plums varieties. Fruits are picked by hand at full maturity to ensure a sugar content higher than 17%. Greengages can be found from July to the end of September.

If greengages are very sweet, they are also made at 80% of water, that is to say only 5 calories a plum, as well as many vitamins and minerals.

Beyond its nutritional qualities, the very best of greengage is its taste: unique aromas with a hint of honey and a juicy, sugared flesh… An exceptional fruit to enjoy summer's last days!

Reine-Claude Label Rouge

canaltuto.com/reine-claude

And also discover our Recipe of the week.

Picture by www.media-creation.fr

Taste and Freshness: French Goat Cheese

In France, the first goat milk producer worldwide, more than 6 000 breeders rear around 850 000 milk goats. In 2010, they produced more than 600 Million litres, enabling the production of more than 100 000 tons of goat cheese. Summer is the perfect time to taste all the kind of cheese elaborated with goats' milk.

The maturing of the cheese makes the first difference: fresh at the beginning, the cheese dries slowly over days, until 3 to 4 weeks, and each new step gives him a new taste and a new texture: fresh, melting, dry, sometimes very dry and hard...

 
Goat cheeses have numerous forms: pyramid, log, cylinder…They also have different colours, depending on their maturity and their elaboration: ashen, with pepper, herbs...

Goat cheese is perfect with bread and wines. The choice of this last will depend on the kind of cheese, even if, usually, white wine is preferred. Thus, half-dry cheeses (matured at least 10 days), will match with a Sauvignon from the Loire area, whereas the Pélardon, which is very dry, will match with a Chardonnay of the Pays d'Oc area.

But goat cheese is also very good to cook. Nice in many summer recipes, in pie, salad or clafoutis, it can be used with fresh and dry fruits, honey, or even in desserts.

www.fromagesdechevre.com

Also discover the Recipe of the week.

French Bananas from Guadeloupe and Martinique

Banana: a fruit before summer

As winter slowly fades away, fresh seasonal fruit are still rare on the markets. That is the perfect time to re-discover one of our usual products: bananas. Produced on Martinique and Guadeloupe, the two main islands of the French West Indies, French Bananas cultivate their difference. Indeed, since 2008, 700 bananas planters decided, through a “Sustainable banana policy”, to protect the environment as well as the social and economic issues of their field.

A sustainable fruit

The latter is the main private employer of the islands with 6000 workers and even 300 ones on Metropolitan France. Each week, their work enables 27 millions of bananas to reach the European Union. As the first export product of the islands, it represents 260 000 tons a year, for a value of 150 million of Euros. This policy is also encouraging the sustainable cultivation. Reducing the environmental footprint by reducing the use of pesticides is one of the planters’ main topics. They also try to handle their wastes, to have a good use of water and to protect the biodiversity.  

Varieties and taste

Several banana varieties can be found on the islands but their taste also changes according to their ripeness or soil. “Planter selection” bananas are grown on the plain, “Mountain selection” bananas are cultivated on the sides of volcanoes, at more than 350 meters. The most original is the pink banana, copper-tainted and very tasty. With taste and nutritional qualities, bananas are rich in fibers, potassium, C and B6 vitamins. Bananas should be kept at room-temperature to be eaten raw or to be drunk in juice or in cocktails. Cooked, they are sweet in dessert and original for a main course.

Banane de Guadeloupe et de Martinique

http://www.bananeguadeloupemartinique.com/

http://www.bananedurable.com/

Also discover our Recipe of the week.

AOC Reblochon, the Winter Cheese

  
The Reblochon is a cheese classically associated with the idea of winter. Coming from the Aravis massif, in the region of Haute-Savoie, the Reblochon  became an Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée in 1958. It is made with the unpasteurized milk of alpine cows. The 150 farmers producing the Reblochon AOC feed their animals mainly with grass in summer and hay in winter, giving the milk its natural taste. They obey traditional rules of production and maturation. The thin spruce plank on which the cheese is packed allows a natural regulation of humidity.

How to taste the Reblochon

At home, the Reblochon AOC should be kept in a cool place (10-12° c.) and be eaten in the 10 days following the purchase. It is best when put at room temperature 2 hours before tasting. The Reblochon AOC is perfect to cook winter dishes as the classical “Tartiflette”, a potatoes and bacon cubes gratin with a melt Reblochon on the top. Alone, the Reblochon AOC can be matched with many breads varieties and a wine of Savoy. More originally, it can be used in recipes of all seasons or matched with nuts or dried fruits (fig, raisin or apricot).          

More information:

Syndicat Interprofessionnel du Reblochon

28 rue Louis Haase - 74230 Thônes

info@reblochon.fr - www.reblochon.fr - www.reblochonfermier.com

And also discover our Recipe of the Week.

Ardèche Chesnut AOC: A Sweet Taste of Winter

 
The montainous region of Ardèche, in the South East of France, is the first area of production for chestnut in France, with 50% of the French production. This specific chestnut received in 2000 the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée. The chestnut groves spread over more than 5000 hectares of steep slopes, divided in  172 towns, and produce an average of 5000 tones of fruits a year, 40% of which is exported. If the chestnut provides employment and earnings in more than 1000 farms, this cultivation is also ecologically friendly. Trees are not phytosanitary cured and the chestnut groves help to maintain the countryside, avoiding soils’ erosion and propagation of fires.  

Ardèche Chestnut AOC can be found in many kinds: desiccated, plain or crushed, sterilized, cooked in purée, or in flour. In France, chestnuts are traditionally served for the end of the year celebrations, plain or mashed, with poultry such as turkey or guinea fowl. But chestnut can also be used in many original ways. Its flour is perfect to create recipes as breads or pancakes. In purée or in flour, it can be added to chocolate cakes to revitalize this old classic. At last, one can taste chestnut mousse or the sweet Mont-Blanc, a mix of chestnut cream and whipped cream.

Comité Interprofessionnel de la Châtaigne d’Ardèche (CICA)

cica@chataigne-ardeche.com - www.chataigne-ardeche.com

Also discover our Recipe of the Week.

Pictures : CICA/M. Rissoan

The Rabbit: a Meat for all Occasions

As a meat, rabbit has many advantages. It can be ready to cook, there is full of recipes to try, putting various cuts forwards, the taste is fine, not far from poultry, and it is good for the health.

A French Production

France is the third European rabbit producer, thanks, especially, to the Western Area, gathering 67% of production. Each year, France puts 74 000 tons of rabbit on the market, 6 400 tons of which are exported. In this field, employing directly or indirectly 10 000 persons, the bigger part of the 4000 stockbreeding farms are professional livestock farming. With more than 200 rabbits, they represent 86% of the whole production.  

An Ally for the Health

Rabbit is perfect for the health. Its proteins are high quality, with around 20, 7 gr. for 100 gr. of meat. It contains also many vitamins, low sodium content but high potassium and omega-3. But one of the most important points is its low-calorie intake. With an average of 12% of fat, it is far from many other meats. Some cuts, as the legs, have even lower calorie content, with only 4%.   

Ideas to cook Rabbit

If saddle is the most known cut of the rabbit, it is good to cook from leg to shoulder. Each cut tastes different and can be cooked in various ways. The most famous rabbit recipe is with a mustard sauce, but it can be braised, grilled over a barbecue or in the oven, stewed… Cooking can be very fast: fillets are ready in 10 minutes on a wok or a pan, while only 5 minutes are enough when sliced fillets are put on a grill-stone. At home or on a restaurant menu, the rabbit will surprise by its originality.

Comité Lapin Interprofessionnel pour la Promotion des Produits

+33 (0)1 45 22 62 4028 - 28 Rue du Rocher - 75008 Paris

www.lapin.fr  

Discover also our Recipe of the Week.

Picture: Amélie Roche/CLIPP - Design: Bérengère Abraham 

The Limousin Appel : a Taste of Limousin Terroir

First and only apple to receive the AOC status (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) in France, Limousin Apple is grown on only four French central and western local areas (Corrèze, Creuse, Nord-Dordogne and Haute Vienne). Orchard land spreads over 3300 hectares, which are worked by 320 apple growers. Each year, 5000 workers pick up 100 000 tones of apples eligible for AOP status.

If Limousin Apple is so important to the regional economic life nowadays, orchards have there a long history. The first apple trees hailing from the Middle East were planted in the Limousine Region by the Romans, during Antiquity. On the well-drained plateaus of Haut-Limousin, they flourished in such a way that Limousin apples can be found in some 18th-century writings.

In the 1950s, the first Golden Apples were imported from the United States, prospering from the Limousin’s fertile soil and fashioning its own unique taste qualities, kept amazingly steady during storage.

In 2005, these unique features helped the Limousin Apple with receiving AOC status. In 2007, the AOC Limousin Apple went European, earning the PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) label.

This label’s specifications have been carefully calibrated to each stage of the growing process, from the orchards to the fruit plantations. A production zone has been carved out across some one hundred towns, based on altitude (300 to 500 m) and geology (crystal foundation) criteria. The four fruit cooperatives (storage and sorting) and the 320 tree-growers possess a real know-how providing the best quality for their produce. That is why the Golden variety, daughter of the Limousin, can also claim to a unique crunch and juiciness, its sweetness delicately balanced with tang. Limousin apple is perfect to cook and serve all along the meal: with white meat or poultry, in pie, stewed, or simply alone to enjoy its freshness and its crunchiness.

To learn more:

info@pomme-limousin.org

www.pomme-limousin.org 

And also discover our recipe of the week.

Pictures: Photothèque Pommes du Limousin AOP