Touraine, a terroir to savour
Touraine gastronomic specialities
Take advantage of your stay at a campsite near Tours to discover the region’s gastronomic specialties. AOC goat’s cheeses like the famous Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine, melt-in-your-mouth rillons and rillettes, uniquely flavored pears or wood-fired fouaces: each local product is an invitation to indulge. Between farmers’ markets, typical restaurants and wine cellars, let yourself be guided by the authentic flavors of a generous terroir, in the heart of the Loire Valley.
Pears tapées
This recipe was revived in the 1990s in the village of Rivarennes. Traditionally made, they are the result of a long process of dehydration: the pears are peeled, placed on racks, tail down, and then placed for several days in wood-fired ovens.
Once dry, they are then flattened using a special instrument, the “platissoire”, and placed in a heating chamber before being packaged. Initially, this was a method of preparation – pears were “tapped” with a mallet – to reduce the risk of scurvy during long crossings! Today, they are eaten rehydrated: soaked in Loire wine or brandy, or cooked in a sugar and cinnamon syrup…
Simply delicious!
For more information on Poire tapée: www.poirestapees.com,
Goat’s cheese
AOC Sainte Maure de Touraine
This raw-milk cheese is served on its own or incorporated into more complete recipes (salads, pies, sauces, etc.).
With a truncated cone shape and a rye sprig printed with the producer’s name and address running through its center, Sainte-Maure can be eaten fresh or more mature, depending on individual taste.
For more information on the Maure de Touraine website: www.stemauredetouraine.fr
Rillons, Rillettes, Andouillettes
“Rillons and rillettes from Tours were the mainstay of our mid-day meal”.
As far back as the 19th century, Honoré de Balzac praised Touraine charcuterie and its specialties.
He even describes Rillons as “fried pork scraps, resembling a cooked truffle”!
Once simmered over an open fire, these succulent cubes of pork can accompany an aperitif, but served as a salad, they’re ideal as an appetizer and a seasonal addition to Touraine tables.
Finer cuts of pork, crushed with a fork, are reserved for the famous Rillettes de Tours.
They have a reputation for being less fatty than those from neighboring terroirs.
And while rillons and rillettes can be eaten on their own, they are sometimes combined in the composition of local specialties such as fouaces, tarte tourangelle aux rillons, and so on.
Fouaces and Fouées
Fouaces are another authentic Touraine tradition.
Their origins date back to the Middle Ages, when these tasty rolls were baked by the hearth – hence the name!
For the record, these were used to check that the oven was at the right temperature, and were at the origin of Rabelais’ famous “Guerres Picrocholines”, between Grandgousier, the father of Gargantua, and Picrochole, the king of the village of Lerné. Now baked in the oven, these galettes are served still warm in wicker baskets and accompany green salads, goat’s cheese or rillettes.
Stuffed, they can also be a real meal, as in the fouaces restaurants that abound in Chinon, Rabelais’ historic stronghold.
Fruit and vegetables, from producer to plate
Market stalls in Touraine offer a wide variety of market garden produce: artichokes, white-stemmed asparagus (our department is France’s second-largest producer), celery, lettuces, cauliflower, beans, peas and more.
Fruit production is also very important: pears, apples, walnuts, plums and other fruits adorn the orchards of our countryside.
And let’s not forget the mushrooms, grown in the cellars dug into the tuffeau, or the autumn pleasures of grapes and porcini mushrooms.
Touraine, land of vineyards
Touraine boasts more than a dozen AOC wines, including reds (chinon, bourgueil, saint-nicolas-de-bourgueil, touraine…) and whites (vouvray, montlouis-sur-loire, touraine sauvignon…).
Sparkling or still, dry, semi-dry or sweet, tannic or fruitier, Touraine wines offer a wide variety of pleasures.
There are two wine routes, vineyard walks and, of course, many producers open the doors of their cellars for a visit or tasting…
A not-to-be-missed event: vineyards, wine and hiking in September!
For more information on Loire Valley wines : www.vinsvaldeloire.fr, www.vignesvinsrandos.fr
Many other products are made in Touraine: beer from Brasserie de L’Aurore, terrines from Ferme de la Roche Martel, honey and other by-products, jams, jellies, fruit juices, Hallard confectionery, Racan sweets and Sonzay artisanal ice creams!
