Behind the French Menu: Indre

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Sainte-Maure de Touraine AOP. The Sainte-Maure de Touraine Cheese. Sainte-Maure de Touraine is One of France's Finest Goat's milk cheeses

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Sainte-Maure de Touraine AOC

Photograph courtesy of Fromagerie-Jacquin.com

Sainte-Maure de Touraine goat's milk cheese.

The Sainte-Maure de Touraine AOC is an excellent, mild, 25% fat, goats’ cheese made with unpasteurized milk with a light, nutty, taste. Each cheese is matured for at least ten days before being sold. A cheese must weigh between 250 and 300 grams. When the cheese is ready to be sold, it is covered in ash. Like other goats’ cheeses, the taste of the Sainte-Maure de Touraine changes and gets stronger as the cheese matures. I noted that this is a mild cheese; nevertheless, as it ages it still gives a fair bite. When you buy this cheese in a fromagerie, ask how old it is.I enjoy the older cheeses, but for a salad you will want a milder cheese. A version made with a pasteurized milk is made for export.

Sainte-Maure de Touraine with its signature straw.

Photograph courtesy of Ma Fromagerie Fine, Rennes, France.

Sante-Maure de Touraine
and plain Sainte Maure are different cheeses.

N.B. The name Sainte-Maure on its own, without the “de Touraine,” is a generic name that can be produced anywhere. Outside France, the Sainte Maure produced is often not a goat’s milk cheese. Look carefully at the Saint-Maure, without the “de Touraine” that you are considering buying. The better industrial versions are goat's milk cheeses and are produced in Touraine and in Poitou-Charentes. The French “Sainte-Maure” cheeses are practically never covered in ash. As good mass-produced cheeses, they do not go out of their way to mislead the consumer. They rely on their taste to bring the customers back, not ambiguous coverings.

The production team

Photograph courtesy of the Tourist Information Office Sainte-Maure de Touraine.

The straw in the cheese?

For the AOC/AOP version of the Sainte-Maure de Touraine, the length is specified between 16-18cm (6”-7”) and the width 4.5-5.5cm ( 2”). The noticeable feature of a traditional Sainte-Maure de Touraine is the piece of straw that runs through the middle. The original reason for the straw was to assist in the cheese maturing evenly as the straw allows air to reach the center of the cheese. Today each straw is marked with the identification of the farm or dairy which made the cheese. Now others have copied the idea and have put straws in the center of their cheeses as a marketing ploy.

The country around Saint-Maure de Touraine.

Photograph courtesy of Saint-Maire de Touraine Tourist Information Office

The five AOP goat's milk cheese of Indre and Indre-et-Loire.

The recipe for the Sainte-Maure de Touraine cheese is one of the oldest in France; its history can be followed back to the 8th or, at the latest, the 9th century CE. The small and beautiful town of Sainte-Maure de Touraine that gave the cheese its name is in the department of Indre-et-Loire in the région of the Val du Loire. The cheese is also made over the border in the department of Indre, part of the ancient province of Berry. Together the two departments of Indre and Indre-et-Loire offer five AOP cheeses: the Crottin de Chavignol AOP; the Valençay AOP; Pouligny Saint Pierre AOP; Selles sur Cher, AOP as well as the Sainte-Maure de Touraine AOP. All are goat’s milk cheeses. Additionally, the area produces many other excellent cheeses that do not have an AOP. To taste most of these cheeses, you will have to visit the region as their limited production is snapped up by the locals. If you are in the area visit a local Fromagerie, a cheese shop, and buy 100 grams of two or three local goat's cheeses, a baguette, a bottle of a cold local white wine and enjoy. If you are traveling in the area then drive over the border into the department of Indre and you will find more to enjoy. For background on the initials, AOC and AOP seen on many French and European Union wines and foods click here.

The production area of Sainte-Maure de Touraine

Photograph courtesy of fromages-aop.com

The wines of Touraine include Chinon and Vouvray.

Apart from cheese, this is wine country, and you will see many AOC/AOP wines. The Touraine wines include reds, roses, and whites. Look for the Touraine-Amboise AOC, the Touraine-Azay-le-Rideau AOC, the Touraine-Mesland AOC, the Touraine-Noble Joué AOC, the Touraine-Chenonceaux AOC, and the Touraine-Oisly AOC. Other wines that come from the ancient province of Touraine include Chinon AOC, Vouvray AOC, Montlouis-sur-Loire AOC, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil AOC and the Bourgueil AOC and the IGP Val-de-Loire.

Their sparkling wines include the Touraine-Mousseux AOC, Touraine-Pétillant AOC, and the Crémant de Loire AOC. Remember that the sweetness grades for sparkling wines are very different to still wines. At the end of the post on France's Cremants and at the end of the post on Champagne are lists that may assist when ordering or buying sparkling wines.

The new initials and names on French wine labels.

For wines, there are new initial and names on the labels of French and European Union wines. The AOP and IGP initials have new meanings and the Vin de Pays has ceased to be used as a wine grade. The French grade of Vin Table, table wine, has also ceased to be used. Along with the new and regulations,a grade called the Vin de France has been added. For more information on these initials and labels click here.

Crémant de Loire Rosé de Bouvet Ladubay

Photograph courtesy of Bulles and Co, France.

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AOC and AOP on France's Foods and Wine labels? Why did the AOC become an AOP?

AOP, IGP and Vin de France. New Labels onFrench Wines.

Champagne the Most Famous Sparkling Wine in the World. Choosing the Champagne that Meets your Sweetness Preferences.

Cremants are the best value in French sparkling wine

Crottin de Chavignol AOP. One of France’s outstanding goats’ milk cheeses.

Valençay, Valencay, the AOP cheese and Valençay the AOP wines.

Visit Berry, One of France’s historic Provinces, Enjoy its excellent Berrichonne Cuisine. Savor its wines. Taste its outstanding cheeses and much more.

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Berry, One of France’s historic Provinces, Enjoy its excellent Berrichonne Cuisine. Savor its wines. Taste its outstanding cheeses and much more.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Château de Valençay

In the department of Indre (Berry).

Photograph courtesy of Daniel Jolivet

www.flickr.com/photos/sybarite48/8313808905/

Berry

Berry is a historic French province in the Loire Valley that, during the French revolution, was divided into the two departments. They are Cher and Indre in the administrative region of Centre-Val de Loire. Despite more than two hundred years of administrative division, Berry remains united in its cuisine.

How to get there.

Berry's old provincial capital was the city of Bourges, now the prefecture, the department capital of Cher. Châteauroux is the largest city in the department of Indre ad its prefecture. From Paris, the departments are two-and-a-half-hours by car, and less than two hours by direct TGV train.

Berrichonne's traditional dress.

Photograph courtesy of So-P.

www.flickr.com/photos/so__p/14167503971/

Berrichonne the people and Berrichonne the Cuisine

Berrichonnes is the name given to the people who live in the area and Berrichon was the language they spoke. That language was a precursor of modern French. Berrichonne is the name of the excellent cuisine that was and is still is being created in the area.

The cuisine.

Berry’s cuisine has well-established culinary credentials, but like much of the best French cuisine does not cling to a single style or type of recipe. Local dishes will often be assigned suffixes that will show their origin. Your menu may offer dishes… du Berry or…. à la Berrichonne. Outside of the area, Berry’s name remains famous throughout France for its vegetables, freshwater fish, cheeses, snails, and wines. When traveling in the area, local restaurants will always include at least one dish with their famous green lentil, the Lentille Verte du Berry, IGP, Label Rouge and their cheeses will include one their five famouse AOP goat’s cheeses.

Your menu may offer:

Coq au Vin à la Berrichonne – Coq au Vin made with one of the red wines of Berrichone.

Coq au Vin.

Photograph courtesy of Nathan Yergler

www.flickr.com/photos/nathan_y/5180111161/

Crème de Lentille Verte du Berry - A cream of lentil soup made with the green lentils of Berry. These yellow-green lentils from Berry have a mild chestnut flavor, and they are France’s only label rouge, red label lentil. These lentils were the first dried vegetable to be awarded the Label Rouge for their consistent quality.

Cuisses de Grenouilles Flambées à la Crème d'Ail Persillée – Frogs’ legs in a cream of garlic sauce flavored with parsley and flambéed before serving.

Fricassée de Lumas à la Berrichonne – The local Petit Gris snail fried in butter and flavored with garlic, parsley, sea salt, and pepper, often made with an added local white wine.

RIs et Rognon à la Berrichonne, En Croûte – Sweetbreads and kidneys, cooked in a pastry covering in the manner of Berrichonne.

Salade de Lentilles Vertes du Berry au Chaud - A salad made with the green lentils of Berry and warm goats' cheese. Your cheese plate or a restaurant’s cheese trolley will include at least two of Berrichonne’s five famous goats’ cheeses. Berry has quite a number of other excellent cheeses, and you may enjoy them locally; unfortunately, most do not have the production required to receive a national following. For more about the famous five, see lower down this post.

Green lentil salad with a walnut dressing.

Photograph courtesy of jules

www.flickr.com/photos/stone-soup/357601017/

Salade Berrichonne – A salad in the manner of Berry. The traditional version is a warm goat’s cheese served with toast, on top of a poached egg, bacon, and tomatoes. The salad is flavored with nuts, cider vinegar, walnut oil, and a small amount of mustard. Like all salads linked by name to a specific area, there are small changes in the recipe from chef to chef, and Berry chefs will also make one or two tweaks to the original recipe. Ask how your Salade Berrichonne is prepared; it should be close to the traditional recipe.

Tarte Berriaude - An apple tart flavored with a cinnamon cream sauce. Occasionally this dish may be served flambéed with Calvados, France’s famous and unique apple brandy.

The fish, frogs, and snails of Berry

Local chefs take full advantage of the freshwater fish from the National Park of Brenne. The park has over 1,000 freshwater ponds as well as freeing-running streams and freshwater fish-farms. From here comes fresh carp, pike, eels, pike-perch, freshwater perch, and frogs, here uniquely called guernouilles; in the rest of France, frogs are grenouilles. Local menus will also feature their lumas snails, the Lumas de Cluis, the local name for their homegrown petit gris snails. Most of these snails are raised in and around the small town of Cluis in the department of Indre. Cluis has a number of snail fairs every year, but the big one is the Fête Du Luma held on 1st May.

Sandre – Zander or Pike-Perch.

Photograph courtesy of patrick janicek

www.flickr.com/photos/marsupilami92/46524550024/

The wines of Berry

Berrichonne is part of the Loire Valley, so even the house wines in small restaurants will usually be the excellent IGP Val de Loire wines. If you do want an AOP local wine, ask for the wine list and look for a white, rosé or light red Sancerre AOP; a white, rosé or red Menetou Salon AOP; a white Quincy AOP; a rosé or red Châteaumeillant AOP or their white, rosé, and red Reuilly AOP wines. For those who want sparkling wine, the nearby Crémants de Loire are excellent whites and rosés sparkling wines.

Sancerre wines.

Photograph courtesy of dpotera.

www.flickr.com/photos/e_calamar/7073195509/

The five most famous cheeses of Berry.

Berry has many wonderful goats’ and cows’ cheeses though their internationally famous five AOP cheeses are all goats’ cheeses.

Crottin de Chavignol AOP;

Pouligny Saint Pierre AOP;

Selles sur Cher AOP,

Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine AOP,

Valençay AOP.

For ideas on taking French cheeses home, read my post on Buying Cheese in France. Bringing French Cheese Home and a Lexicon for buying French Cheese.

The Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine cheese.

Photograph courtesy of Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine Office de Tourisme

Listening to French in Berry

You may have learned excellent French in school or college; however, among themselves, the locals do allow old Berrichon words to slip in, and that, along with local usage, may interfere with any eavesdropping!

Visiting Bourges the old capital of Berry

Visit the Marais Berruyers

Bourges, the ancient capital of Berry, is now the prefecture, the departmental capital of Cher. Bourges has a fantastic history, a unique Gothic 13th-century cathedral, and is set on the River Yevre. Of particular interest is the Marais Berruyers, the marshes of Berry; there is no longer any marshland there though the name remains. The marshes are an amazing agricultural area in the center of the city, a 10-15 minute walk from the cathedral. Originally, this was a market gardening center; now, it has over 700 private plots with some that include amateur fish farms. You may visit and walk among most of the plots. Bourges is 250 km (153 miles) from Paris. With a direct TGV train, traveling time is 1 hour and 45 minutes, and by car two and a half hours.

The cathedral of Bourges. (Cher).

Photograph courtesy of Daniel Jolivet

www.flickr.com/photos/sybarite48/5026494266/

Visiting Châteauroux the largest city in Indre

and the Brenne national park.

Châteauroux was the largest city in Berry and now is the prefecture, departmental capital of Indre. The town is set on the River Indre and the edge of the Brenne national park. If you just wish to enjoy the country travel slowly around the National Park of Brenne with its ponds, fields, forests, and villages along with many small, but good, local restaurants. The park’s English language website is http://www.parc-naturel-brenne.fr/en/.

A Squacco Heron (ardeola ralloides).

In the Brenne National Park.

Photograph courtesy of Julien Bensliman

www.flickr.com/photos/bensphotograph/25816609498/

The Circus Museum

and the annual Green Lentil fete in Vatan (Indre).

If you are traveling with children, the small town of Vatan has a unique circus museum. Vatan is just 30 km, or twenty-five minutes by car, from Châteauroux. However, when visiting the museum, do check its opening times as they used to close daily for two hours for lunch! The circus museum’s French-language website is www.musee-du-cirque.com/Vatan; it is easily understood using Google or Microsoft translation apps.

On the second weekend in September, Vatan hosts the annual Fete de la Lentille Verte du Berry à Vatan, the Festival of the Green Lentil of Berry in Vatan. Their French language website is www.lentilleduberry.com/FR/esprit-terroir.html. This green lentil was the first dried vegetable to be awarded the Label Rouge, the Red Label.

The snail fete, the Fete de Lumas, in the town of Cluis (Indre).

Cluis has several snail fetes every year, but the largest begins on the first of May. The town also has a farmers’ market on the first and third Sunday mornings of every month. The Berry Province French language website https://www.berryprovince.com/agenda/fete-du-luma-cluis/ give more information; it is easily understood with the Google or Microsoft translate apps. You can write ahead for dates and information on all their snail fairs to info@cluis.fr. They promise to reply in English.

Château Valençay and its gardens

The beautiful Château Valençay was once the home of that consummate politician Talleyrand. Talleyrand: Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Prince Benevento (1754- 1838).

See its English language website https://www.chateau-valencay.fr/en/preparer/prepare-your-visit/

Talleyrand was a gourmet and France’s first internationally famous politician, as well as the first politician to use the dinner table for political maneuvering. As a Minister, he first served King Louis XVI but later supported the French Revolution and took part in writing the Declaration of the Rights of Man. As a true Everyman’s politician, he later served Napoleon I as Foreign Minister, and then when the monarchy returned, served King Louis XVIII and King Louis-Philippe, Philippe Égalité.

One of Talleyrand’s most famous quotes was:

L’Angleterre a deux sauces et trois cents religions; la France au contraire, a deux religions, mais plus de trois cents sauces.

The English have two sauces and three hundred religions, while on the other hand, France has two religions and more than three hundred sauces.

The nearby town of Valençay gave its name to the Chateau. It is the only town in France to have an AOP for both its cheese and wine, as well as a chateau named after it. The Valençay AOP wines are whites and reds and its cheese is one of France’s most respected goats’ cheeses.

The main fountain in the grounds of the Chateau de Valencay.

Photograph courtesy of Frédéric BISSON

www.flickr.com/photos/zigazou76/18620718256/

Champagne Berrichonne

Look at a map of Berry, and you will see one large part is called Champagne Berrichonne, and that causes some confusion. Champagne Berrichonne has no Champagne; the word champagne historically refers to a type of soil and the name was adopted further north for the famous sparkling wine. Champagne Berrichonne is not a center for bubbling wine, or any wine for that matter, though it does have a micro-brewery. Champagne Berrichonne is a vast plain and a center for the cultivation of Berry’s famous green lentils and also their cattle farming. The area is covered with hundreds of small lakes and is also home to the Pouligny Saint-Pierre AOC goats’ cheese.

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
Copyright 2010, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2024
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

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