When we think of gastronomy or local products in Vendée, we obviously think of Vendée brioche, seafood on the coast and grilled ham with mogettes (white beans).
Vendée local products
Who said that the Vendée was not a land of gastronomy! Do you know the local Vendée products? The Vendée brioche, the préfou, the mogettes and its grilled ham or the troussepinette. Take the time to taste them at the restaurants who sublimate them in their dishes or buy them directly from the producers.
Vendée brioche
The essential thing when you come back from Vendée is to bring back a Vendée brioche to taste as a souvenir. You will find this sweet recipe at the breakfast table, snack, dessert.
Do you know the tradition of brioche for the bride and groom ? This round XXL brioche is danced at Vendée weddings to the sound of traditional Vendée music.
Tradition too: people from Vendée who have moved to France or abroad never forget to promote Vendée brioche! It is an ideal gift to bring when you are invited!
The forerunner
Le prefou is rather a specialty of the South Vendée, but we like to taste it as an aperitif with a glass of pencilcasepinette. The préfou is a flat bread, it is the first bread that the bakers put in their oven to know if it was hot. This flatbread is spread with a garlic butter mixture, put in the oven, it's crispy.
Mogettes and Vendée ham
The moths are white beans that are eaten cooked with a nice thick slice of Vendée ham which are roasted. (A country and traditional ham).
It is also traditional to eat grilled mogettes: large slices of thick, grilled, buttered and winged country bread on which hot mogettes are added. In contact with the hot mogettes, the salted butter melts and mixes with the mogettes, delicious the mixture of salted butter mogettes.
The pencil case
It is an aperitif made from wine and black thorns served chilled, it is essential for Vendée aperitifs with préfou.
What are the local products of the Vendée bocage?
In recent years, consumers have increasingly wanted to buy 100% local, products made around his home, nearby. With the development of short circuits, Vendée agriculture has turned to the individual and the direct sale. The new farmers bring this new era by settling in organic and transforming their raw material.
You will find throughout the territory of the Vendée bocage, local products sold in farm shops, shops, markets, under the Halles des Villes...
In 2019, we went to meet producers, as part of a photo report, they explained their journey to us.
Goat cheese
Goats roaming the fields, fodder produced on site, care given to the goat, these are the words retained following the visit to the Alpine Farm in Sainte Florence – Essarts en Bocage. Farmers transform part of their milk production into goat cheese and tomme which are then sold on the markets of Vendrennes and Les Essarts. All summer, Agnès offers to discover her farm by appointment, visit to the farm.
You will find on the territory of Vendée Vallée other producers of goat cheeses in Sainte Cécile for example and cows in Gaec la Source in Montournais.
Medicinal and aromatic plants
Elodie is a producer of aromatic and medicinal plants in Saint Michel Mont Mercure – Sèvremont, her garden is teeming with plants of all kinds on different levels. She then makes dried herbs for infusions, aromatic vinegars, elixirs and herbal salts.
Direct sale at his shop throughout the year “In the heart of the plants” and in some markets.
Soft wheat flours and pasta
In Saint Mesmin, we met Charlotte Audouin from Epicoeur. Epicoeur was born in October 2013 from a meeting with pasta producers and the idea of diversifying the agricultural production of the farm and going back to basics, transforming the cereals produced on site. Today, Epicoeur produces flours, pasta and risettes with soft wheat and novelties: mustard and bread. THE Friday Charlotte offers a live sale from the farm.
Producers of beef, poultry, pork
Consumers and restaurateurs are increasingly getting their supplies directly, via a local meat producer and/or butcher. In the Vendée Valley, farmers raise pigs, beef, lambs and poultry into savory, flavorful meat.
Le restaurant the 3 Pillars get their supplies at Biftruck, grouped breeders, a Yohan butcher who cuts and sells their meat in a truck. This store truck crisscrosses the villages of the Vendée bocage and offers local meat, at the fairest price: beef, lamb, veal and chicken.
The market basket, fruits and vegetables
To buy his fruit and vegetable basket, you can go to the local markets of the different municipalities, to the farm sales which welcome individuals for a picking or to collect their basket.
We met Vincent Guérin, the Ferme du Belou de la Meilleraie Tillay, which sells its seasonal vegetables Friday from 16 p.m. to 19 p.m. live at the farm. He made us discover Yin and Yang mogettes and taste his round strawberries and zucchini.
List of tastings
