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Enjoy themLocal produce

Enjoy them

Taste Escapades

2nd edition

Following its success, the 2nd edition of Taste Escapades has been produced!

Find it at the Tourist Office to discover new recipes from the territory 🤗

AOP Saumur

Nord-Vienne

From Chenin to Cabernet, via Chardonnay, the grape varieties, grown on the limestone terroirs of northern Loudun, benefit from the softness and character of AOP Saumur.

Between vineyards and troglo cellars, let yourself be tempted by a white, red or crémant tasting. Stroll through the Loudun vineyards, whose soils are unique in being sedimentary, with white tufa chalk, siliceous, sandy and clay soils.

 

👉 https://www.tourisme-loudunais.com/selon-vos-envies/vignoble/

The Othello

A forbidden grape variety

Previously widespread throughout France since the end of the XIXe century, this American grape variety, created as part of the fight against phylloxera, has been banned as a wine grape since 1935. Not only are the juice and pulp harmless, but their natural quality allows for prolonged cooking, ideal for jams and wine sauces accompanying meats.

So you can stick a few othello woods in your garden and within two to three years, you’ll be making your first jellies. If you don’t want to wait, poke around in the area or harvest other grape varieties like oberlin, castel or even baco. Happy searching!

 

Almond country

The Loudun almond tree is saved

Holy almonds! They take us on some strange escapades at the start of the 21ste century. On their hands and knees under the miraculously preserved, centuries-old trees, a small band of irreducible warpers harvest and classify the dried fruits, sweet or bitter, soft-shelled or hard-shelled. Then it’s time for dormancy and sowing. Then comes the planting and the traffic in precious seeds, while others scour the countryside to promote neglected recipes; like Jacques Manreza in his day, who confronted the windmills on the limestone plain, the first man of the new age to rehabilitate ancient local products buried in oblivion: almonds, but also truffles and saffron. Spurred on by the challenge, we took up the torch, and now thousands of small almond trees are springing up all over northern Poitou, where in 2006 there were fewer than 300 of the species left.

The Truffle

Poitou cuisine

Truffles have long been harvested at the foot of our pubescent oaks, known locally as “black oaks”, trees that thrive on limestone soils. But thanks to pioneers like Pierre Mauléon in the 18thcentury, Léopold-Ferdinand Foucault in the 19the and the amazing Jacques Manreza at the end of the 20the, truffle-growing has greatly expanded in our region, starting in the commune of Beuxes. Anxious to carry on this legacy and write a new page in his own right, Michel, like many local enthusiasts, embarked on this formidable adventure. Today, the area devoted to growing Périgord black truffles (around 100 hectares) is more or less the same as it was in 1870, a period considered to be the apogee of truffle growing in northern Poitou.

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Walnut cake

For 6 persons

Preparation time: 25 min / Baking time: 45 min

06 Gâteau Aux Noix

Seasonal basket

20 to 30 walnuts : 150g kernels

1 teacup sugar (approx. 120g)

1 egg

1 teacup milk (approx. 12cl)

2 teacups flour ( approx. 200g)

1 sachet yeast

1 knob butter

Crack the walnuts, recover the kernels (called beugeons in loudunais patois) and cut them into small pieces using a knife. Set aside.

Heat the milk in a saucepan.

In a bowl, mix the sugar and egg. Add the warm milk and whisk.

Incorporate the flour with the yeast in small doses while mixing with a whisk. Stir until smooth and creamy.

Add your walnut kernels and mix again.

Coat the inside of a terracotta mould (if possible) or another cake tin if you don’t have one, with butter and pour in the mixture.

Heat the oven to 180°C and bake the cake for 45 minutes. Check for doneness with the blade of a knife.

Take your cake out and let it cool before serving.

Cut good slices and serve, if possible, with a good accacia honey and, if you like, gueurmilles of butter spread on top (this dairy product will delight with the taste of the walnut).

📖 Excerpt from the book: Les Escapades du Goût 📖

Good tasting 🥧

Almonds in praline

In an enameled cast-iron pot or skillet, melt the sugar by pouring in half a glass of water.

Add the almonds with their skins and start boiling over medium heat.

During the first 10 minutes, the water evaporates. Stir very gently. Gradually, the sugar crystallizes.

After 15 minutes of cooking, the almonds begin to crackle. The sugar turns brown and caramelizes the almonds.

This is when you need to turn energetically and regularly, bringing the dried fruit towards the center of the basin.

When the sugar, which coats the almonds, begins to harden, turn off the gas but continue turning for another 1 or 2 minutes.

Pour the pralines onto a sheet pan, taking care to loosen any almonds that may have remained stuck together, and leave to cool.

📖 Excerpt from the book: Les Escapades du Goût 📖

Good tasting 🥧

For 4/5 persons

Preparation time: 15 min

Cooking time: 20 min

B

Ingredients

200g almonds

200g granulated sugar

6cl water