A special place to stay in Brittany

Food and drink

Brittany offers you a wealth of culinary excitement. The quality of locally-produced ingredients lends itself to the simple Breton cuisine, which brings out natural flavours rather than concealing them with elaborate sauces.

Seafood
The marine influence is strong here and seafood is well prepared and plentiful. There is fabulous shellfish including lobster, langoustine, crayfish, mussels, oysters (particularly the meaty ones from Belon and Cancale), clams, crab, shrimps and scallops, especially coquilles Saint-Jacques from Saint-Brieuc, perhaps the best scallops in France. Some menus feature the full range of oysters labeled as sizes 1, the largest to the smallest at 5. Stalls outside display piles of shells sorted by size, these are staffed with expert oyster shuckers preparing platters of oysters for eager customers. Cotriade is a fish stew traditionally made with conger eel, Pot au Feu de homard is a seafood stew and is an extravagansa with succulent lobster, shrimp, scallops, mussels and oysters. Lobster is the mainstay of Breton menus, and is often prepared in a cream sauce or grilled. Try palourdes farcies (baked clams stuffed with garlic, herbs and shallots).

The seafood platter is offered by Brittany's best eating-places. In order to ensure freshness and variety, restaurateurs have signed a charter guaranteeing an "authentic Breton platter of fresh seafood." This obliges them to use only the very freshest produce, (never frozen or even iced, both of which will impair the delicate flavours) and to provide a minimum variety of six different shellfish and crustaceans on each platter. Keep an eye open for the charter logo shown here, which will be proudly displayed in the window of all participating restaurants. For a list of participating resaurants in the Côtes d'Armor, please click here.

Sweet touches
On offer to tempt you are a fine selection of delicate pastries and biscuits. "Far Breton" is a pie, and the far that you are most likely to try is a rich prune flan bake all over Brittany. But the traditional peasant fars are simple savory batters, made from flour, eggs and water, and cooked in a pot-au-feu for several hours until it resembles crumbly dumpling. You must try the addictive sweet, buttery pastry called "kouign amann" which is made with yeasted dough which is spread with butter and sugar, sometimes ground almonds, apples or angelica, and folded over itself. "Galettes bretonnes" are crunchy butter cookies. The traditional pastries include several versions of gateau breton, which in its simplest form really is a pound cake, or what is known locally as quatre-quarts because it is made with four equal parts of flour, butter, sugar and eggs. The sablés bretons are wonderful, melt-in-your-mouth butter cookies. Two fruits play a special part in Brittany cuisine: the famous strawberries from Plougastel, over twenty different varieties, and apples from the Saint-Malo area.

Dairy produce
Brittany is a great dairy territory - it's responsible for 20% of France's entire cattle raising, produces 20% of its milk and 33% of its butter. Port Salut is smooth, delectable local cheese, the creamy rind-washed St Paulin is probably the best known and a variety of Camembert is also produced, and it is this that is possibly the most popular with locals. Mingaux is a local soft cream cheese, often served with fruit or simply sprinkled with sugar. In good restaurants, there will be a plateau de fromage (cheeseboard) with a comprehensive range of cheeses, particularly local ones, kept at optimum temperature and ready to be served with bread (no butter). Although buttermilk and fresh cheeses are popular, there is little production of aged cheese in Brittany. Some of the finest butter in the world comes from here – it is slightly salted, unlike the butter from the other regions of France.

Meat and veg
Brittany is especially famous for its tender salt meadow lamb (agneaux de pre-salé) and some of the very best pork produced in France today. Salt-meadow lambs are sold from February to July under the "Estran" label by restaurants and butchers who adhere to the association. Thanks to this seasonality, you are assured to buy a very high-quality product. In fact, rules concerning salt pan sheep are very strict (100 days at minimum of grazing in the bay). Vegetables blended with pork in a hot pot is called Calfedpotfe and is a hearty dish to set you up for the day. Poultry, accompanied by the region's wonderful vegetables such as artichokes, cauliflower, potatoes, carrots, endives and lettuce, is also a wise choice. The local partridge are also particularly good. Some of Brittany’s most productive farms are close to the northern shore. Fertilized with seaweed, they produce fine cabbage, peas, string beans and strawberries. Seaweed is also eaten both fresh and pickled. Duck breast in salt crust (Duo de Magrets en Croûte de Sel) and leg of lamb (Gigot à la Bretonne) are delicious. Ham, sausage and paté … charcuterie is another traditional Brittany specialty. The best known is probably the Guéméné andouille, which comes from the Morbihan. Eat it in thin slices on a galette or buttered bread.

Crêpes
Brittany is famous for its crêpes and galettes. Crêperies offer an imaginative range of sweet pancakes (crêpe de froment) or savoury buckwheat galettes (galette de sarrasin). Remember, galette = buckwheat= salty flavour, crêpe = wheat flour= sweet flavour. Often, crèpes are prepared in an open kitchen and you can observe the cook spreading the batter on the griddles with a little rubber scraper shaped like a squeegee. La Chandeleur, celebrated February 2nd, is the crêpes day in France. Eating crêpes the day of la Chandeleur will bring a year of happiness! See below for recipes.

Drink
WIne: Although Brittany produces virtually no commercial wine, Muscadet is considered by many to be a Breton wine. It comes from the extreme southern point of Brittany, at the head of the Loire Estuary, near Nantes. It is a dry, crisp, fruity white wine that goes very well with shellfish, especially oysters. Widely available and fairly inexpensive, it is a good choice. A less well known wine Gros Plant is worth asking for as this is also good with seafood.

Cider: However, cider is the main drink of Brittany. It is widely drunk either in still or sparkling form, and traditionally from a bowl! See if you can find the pear cider, which is delicious. The Pommeau of Brittany (right) is a blend of a Breton cider brandy and fresh apple juice. Pommeau of Brittany is aged for four years in oak casks in order to mellow, to gain color and to take on all the flavors which make it so original. It's a Breton apéritif recognized for its quality and its authenticity by the National Institute of Appellations of Origin. Lambic is a Breton cider brandy aged in oak casks for only 4 years, to conserve all its fruity flavor. A 40% alcohol by volume brandy, it can be served over ice as an apéritif, over an apple sorbet, or to create a flaming dessert. La Fine Bretagne is a Breton cider brandy aged much longer, in little oak casks, for ten years, twelve years or more. The 40% alcohol by volume brandy, much sweeter and more woody than the Lambic, is served at room temperature as a digestive liqueur.

Beer: Cervoise Lancelot is a traditional Gallic yeast beer, unfiltered, unpasteurized and containing 6% alcohol. It is brewed with malted barley and flavored with seven plants and a bit of honey, which gives it an exceptional aroma. This light and amber beer must be served between 8° and 12°C in a large glass while making sure the yeast remains at the bottom of the bottle. Telenn Du is a typical Breton beer is prepared with barley and buckwheat, which also grows in Brittany. This dark beer is very soft light. Its subtle, bitter flavour is revealed within its fine, dense froth. As you drink, imagine the large fields of white buckwheat flowers brightening our landscapes in July and August. Preferably served in round or tall beer glasses. Telenn Du means Black Harp in English. (4.5% alcohol)

Buckwheat Galette

Preparation time: 10 minutes. + 2 hours of resting time

8 ounces of buckwheat flour, Pinch of salt, 2 eggs, 1 pint of cold water, 1.5 ounces of melted butter.

Mix together the buckwheat flour, salt, eggs, cold water and the melted butter. Let the batter rest for two hours.

Cook the galettes in a nonstick pan (for beginners) making the galettes as thin as possible. For purists: one should use a cast iron skillet, grease the pan using a paper towel dipped in butter.

Don't give up if at first you don't succeed. As they say, "The first one is for the dog".

Crêpes
You can have your crêpes savory (with eggs, ham, crème fraiche, cheese) or sweet (with apples, walnuts, chocolate, jam).

For 24 crêpes: 8 ounces of wheat flour, pinch of fine salt, a tablespoon of sugar, 3 eggs,1 pint of milk, 1 tablespoon of orange flower water (optional), 2 ounces of butter, oil.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flower, salt and sugar. Make a well in the flour, break the eggs into the well and pour in the milk. Stir gently with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth, and without lumps. Now stir in the orange flower water and the melted butter. Let the batter rest for 1 to 2 hours.

Grease your crêpe pan. Pour in a small ladle full of batter, and spread the batter quickly by turning the pan in all directions so that it spreads evenly. Let the crêpe cook for about 30 seconds on one side and then turn it over as soon as the edges begin to brown. Cook on the other side another 30 seconds or until you see little bubbles appear on the surface.

Serve the crêpes warm, plain or with sugar or jam. Serve with sweet cider.

Salty meadow lamb

Because of the sheer length of the coastline in Brittany, salt meadow lambs are widely available in the "Pays d'Armor". Those from the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel and from the Breton Islands (Belle-Île, Ouessant) are particularly sought after.

For 8 people: 1 leg of salty meadow lamb (4 to 6 lb.), 2 cloves of garlic, 2 ounces of butter.

Peel the garlic and slip it in next to the bone. Smear the leg of lamb with butter and put it in a buttered roasting pan. Add salt and Pepper. Put the leg of lamb into a preheated oven (220° C) and cook it 10 to 12 minutes per pound, according to taste. Don't forget to turn it over half way through cooking and baste it with the cooking juices. As soon as it is done, take the leg of lamb out of the pan and deglaze it with 2 or 3 tablespoons of water (or muscadet wine). Traditionally, the slices of lamb are served on top of a serving plate full of beans and the sauce is poured on top. Warm the plates before serving.