Specialties
Pancakes, yes but adapted to the tastes of the Breton marshes of the Vendée! The bignaïe (pronounced "biguenaille") is indeed a maraîchine recipe which, accompanied by smoked bacon, is traditionally eaten in winter. And to be Vendéen to the end of your fork, add some mogettes!
Another real tradition in the Vendée, the brioche vendéenne, also called galette pacaude, Easter bread or aliz vendéenne, is appreciated by locals and visitors alike. A variation of the brioche, the gâche has a tighter crumb (which is why it is also called "alize", compact). It is also less sweet and less rich, but just as delicious!
Indispensable for the Vendée aperitif, the préfou originates from the Fontenay-le-Comte region. This flat bread is characterized by its filling of salted butter and chopped raw or cooked garlic, and was once used by bakers to check the temperature of their oven. It was then rubbed with garlic, generously buttered and eaten hot.
A medieval dessert traditionally eaten at Easter and communions, fionaïe is a cousin of eggs with milk and is similar to flan maraîchin, or fion, a version of fionaïe surrounded by pastry.
My first one is eaten raw or cooked, my second one is from the bean family, and my third one is an emblematic dish of the Vendée region that could not be easier to make and that you can taste in some traditional restaurants. It is... the mogette ham!
Meat, poultry and cold cuts
The farm poultry of Challans are raised in the open air, Label Rouge obliges! The breeders feed their birds a natural diet with soy, minerals and alfalfa. If chicken (black, white or yellow) and duck are the best known Challans poultry, guinea fowl, quail, white geese, black turkeys and even capons are also raised during the holidays.
Raised in the open air, the farm pig from the Vendée is one of the three "free-range pigs" in France, along with the Auvergne and the South-West. Food, animal welfare and respect for the natural growth cycle (6 months instead of 4 for the standard pig) are the criteria to be respected to produce farmhouse pork from the Vendée.
The production of foie gras is not the exclusive preserve of the southwest. The Vendée is now the4th largest producer of foie gras in France; 8 of the 35 million tons of this refined dish produced each year in France come from Vendée farms.
The fressure ? A kind of blood sausage but without the gut, which gives a preparation that it is advisable to heat up in a pan with a little water, before serving it... with mogettes or steamed potatoes from Noirmoutier for example. Rabelais already spoke about this dish in his Quart Livre.
Fish, seafood and shellfish
Listed in the inventory of intangible cultural heritage of France in 2018, the sardine fishery of Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie is an institution! A great pride for this small blue fish which became the first and only wild fish to have obtained the Label Rouge in 2000.
The Marais Poitevin abounds in eels, "the queen of the marsh". More generally, eels can be found in all the Vendée marshes, as well as in the Olonne marshes. Fishing (and even hunting in the past) for eels is a traditional activity in the Vendée and is still part of the culture of the Marais Poitevin today.
In the XVIIIth century, the gastronomes appreciated particularly the oysters of Bourgneuf, then very famous. The oysters were small but full, delicately salted and with a fine flavor. The first oyster beds in Noirmoutier appeared in 1816, and it was in 1993 that the Vendée-Atlantique brand was created, guaranteeing the quality of the water, the climate and the principles of maturing in oyster beds.
Mussel production (mussel farming) in the Vendée is concentrated in the region of L'Aiguillon-sur-Mer Each year, 5,000 tons of bouchot mussels (traditional culture carried out on wooden stakes planted in the sea) are produced in the department, out of a national production of 60,000 tons.
The Sable sole is the "queen" of the port of Les Sables! Fished with trawls and gillnets, it is a lean fish with firm white flesh.
The margate is in fact the white of cuttlefish, which can be found on the menus of restaurants in Sablais or on the Ile d'Yeu in the form of a typical recipe: the Rata de seiche or rata de morgate on the Ile d'Yeu, a stew in which margates and small potatoes flavored with garlic, parsley and white wine are mixed.
Fishing for small Atlantic tuna (or albacore, or "long-ear tuna") is a specialty of the island of Yeu dating back to the 17th century. It is this variety of tuna that is nowadays transformed into canned tuna, in oil and in rillettes.
Cheese and dairy products
If one of the most famous cheeses of the Vendée is the fleur d'Aunis, a cow's cheese with a washed rind and a tasty and perfumed taste, amateurs also know the no less famous mizotte, a cow's cheese with a washed rind and the white wine of Mareuil, perfect on toasts and baked or in raclette.
As for halbran, it is the oldest cheese from Vendée. Its name comes from the name of the young wild duck that cannot fly yet (the halbran). Made in the South Vendée with cow's milk, its rind is ashy, which gives it good conservation qualities.
The chalky tomme is made with cow's milk from the South Vendée and is characterized by its fruity taste. Its particularity? It is matured in Haute-Savoie.
The sauvageon and the maillezais are mixed cheeses, made from goat and cow milk. Goat cheeses also stand out, with for example the Aizenay goat cheese and the biquette from Vendée.
Fruits and vegetables
Arrived from America in the 16th century, the mogette is a white bean seed that comes in two varieties: the lingot in the north of the department, and the coco paimpolais in the Marais poitevin. To taste it, we spread it on a toast, a slice of bread toasted on both sides in front of the hearth, buttered on top and lightly rubbed with garlic below. The whole eaten hot. Another classic from Vendée, mojette is a perfect accompaniment to ham and leg of lamb.
It is also called bonnotte. Whatever its name, the early potato of Noirmoutier is a pure delight, cooked by the greatest chefs of the country and elsewhere. Delicious in butter, it can also be baked in a salt dough covering. Its reputation is well established. Did you know that its price can reach 400 € per kilo at auctions?
Spices and condiments
It is found in the salt marshes of Noirmoutier and on the salty grounds. Aromatic and very rich in minerals and trace elements, samphire also contains vitamins A, C and D. It can be eaten either cooked like green beans (for the young shoots) or preserved in white vinegar with spices, like pickles.
The history of the Vendée salt marshes goes back to the 13th century. Dikes, canals and basins allow the salt-maker to circulate the water, which evaporates in the sun before crystallizing and giving the precious white gold, salt. Noirmoutier is the most important salt marsh area of the department. The white gold comes in coarse salt, fine salt and fleur de sel (the nectar of the Marsh, the salt of the great chefs).
Alcohol and spirits
The Vendée wines are the fruit of the work of the Romans, to whom we owe the vine plants of the Vendée wines. As for the Appellation d'Origine des Fiefs Vendéens, it covers 480 ha, divided into 5 appellations: Vins de Mareuil (fruity and gourmet), Brem (characteristically clear and fresh wines), Vix and Pissotte (generous wines with singular aromas) and Chantonnay (an aromatic white with a hint of acidity, and a red provided with a nice complexity). After more than 20 years of waiting, these 5 vineyards have finally obtained the AOC in February 2011.
The Mélusine brewery, the first in the Vendée, is located in Chambretaud, near the Puy-du-Fou. It is an unpasteurized and unfiltered beer, preserving all its aromas and made according to the Belgian Trappist method. Its little secret? The presence of angelica which gives it its typical freshness.
Other breweries complete the local offer, among which the La Muette brewery in Bazoges-en-Pareds, the NO brewery in Noirmoutier, the Brasseurs de la vie in Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, with their range of organic and responsible beers and finally the Opé brewery in Sables-d'Olonne.
The Troussepinette, the emblematic local aperitif, is made with fruit spines. Mild and low in alcohol, it is perfect with prefou!
A coffee-based liqueur created around 1860 by a member of the Vrignaud family, Kamok remains in new oak barrels for two years before being enjoyed as a digestif, iced or in cocktails.
The Vendée also has its pastis! The Pastis Vrignaud exhales its delicate perfume and is consumed fresh, diluted in water.
