The best local producers New Aquitaine

Sylvie and Didier settled on the family land, becoming producers of Espelette chilli pepper (PDO). To ensure the long-term viability of their production, they have turned their attention to breeding Kintoa Basque pigs. Here, the chillies are picked, sorted, dried, cooked and ground in the pure tradition of the label... It is available in chili purée, powder, coulis, jelly and mustard. Pork is also available in a variety of forms: hams, terrines, sausages... which can be found in the store, on the website and in the best delicatessens in the Basque Country.

The Lencloître cookie factory was founded in 1960 by Guy Gâteau. Since then, the traditional recipes for broyés and other sweets have remained unchanged. Handcrafted with local flours and fresh butter, there are of course the traditional Poitou "broyés", in a large version to share or in small format, but also with caramel, chocolate chips... and galettes with fleur de sel d'Oléron. Crushed and other cakes are also available in organic versions.

Pork producers for several generations, Delphine and Jérôme Barrouillet have started to transform their product. It is in Couhé, close to their farm, that they installed their workshop-boutique. Pork lovers, go there! The cured meats are delicious. It must be said that the couple was trained in Aurillac. Prepared dishes, sausages without additives, rillons, stuffed Poitevin, sausages, everything is home made. Other local products are offered.

For over 25 years, Marie-Lise and Bruno Guitton have been growing mushrooms in their troglodytic cellars. This former tufa quarry is the ideal place to grow artisanal Blond de Paris, lentin de chêne (or shiitake) and oyster mushrooms. Five meters underground, in three kilometers of gallery, at 16°C, the mushrooms flourish - up to two tons a week! They also offer in-house preparations.

This local produce store is the culmination of an idea launched during the first containment in April 2020. It all started with a few orders and baskets made with produce from local producers. Today, La Grange Ouverte offers fruit, vegetables, meats, groceries and cosmetics from Civraisien-en-Poitou and beyond. The store is open on site, but you can also order online and pick up your basket in the store or at one of the local depots. A great deal!

This is the story of Corinne and her little horned creatures. The story of a snail farmer and her snails. On her farm, everything takes place on the ground, between the nets where small and large gray snails are raised to the delight of gourmets. Corinne will tell you all about these gastropod molluscs. Some prefer to eat them on a plate of 12, others in a court-bouillon or as spreads. Discover them on a visit to the farm, at markets in the Vienne region, or in producers' stores. Welcome to the land of cagouilles!

On their farm a few kilometers from Civray, Sylvie and Laurent transform their wheat grains into organic, semi-complete pasta to the delight of gourmets. Their mill unrolls the grain before passing it through a sieve, mixing the flour with water and transforming the dough into torti, coquillettes, pipe rigate, lasagne and tagliatelle. With a big smile, they welcome you to the farm to explain the process in detail. You can also stock up on wheat flour and buckwheat flour.

Hervé Girard, a beekeeper, welcomes you to his honey house in a traditional Poitou farmhouse built of stone and galuche. A self-taught enthusiast since the age of 10, he owns around 100 hives. He'll be delighted to tell you all about his work, the fascinating life of bees, the properties of pollen, and to let you taste his honeys (sunflower, acacia, spring, all flowers), pastilles and gums. You'll also discover the classic and animal-shaped candles he makes with beeswax.

Farci poitevin is an unmissable local Poitou specialty. In days gone by, everyone used to make it with garden vegetables. If you'd like to try this cooked vegetable pâté surrounded by cabbage leaves, head to Sommières-du-Clain. The company has been making it by hand for some thirty years. It has won several awards in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine flavors competition. A sure bet! And you'll also find other local specialties: roulade de sommières, pâté marmite, black pudding, Charentais crickets...

Whether in their store in Ouzilly, just outside Châtellerault, or at local markets such as Lencloître, Poitiers Bel Air, Saint-Benoît, Vivonne, Fontaine-le-Comte... or in farmers' stores, the Godu family's vegetables have been delighting our taste buds for three generations! Ô Potager familial, as you may have gathered, is first and foremost a family affair. Today, Béatrice, James and their son Jérôme are delighted to offer you radishes, beet, tomatoes, strawberries, melons and asparagus.

Breeding, slaughtering, cutting and selling of fine poultry, quails, pheasants, geese, partridges, squabs... You can also taste quail eggs, sausages, preserves and refined rillettes, on sale in the shop. The Pierre couple, members of the Bienvenue à la ferme (Welcome to the Farm) network, invite you to the farm to discover the facilities and traditional know-how. They will of course give you advice on preparation and cooking. Several tempting recipes on the website.

Catherine and Michel Blassel, beekeepers for 15 years, produce an organic mountain honey that has been elected the Golden New Aquitaine Flavour 2017. This beekeeping company produces honey and by-products based on pollens from classic or less classic plant species such as lime trees, dandelion and bramble. From these beehives, whose products are hand-picked to ensure the bees' well-being, they derive a wealth of good things: nougat, gingerbread, mead, soaps, pollen, royal jelly and propolis.

Since 1975, the family business has grown, but kept its authenticity. Jacqueline Mitteault's recipes are still produced on site. Here, the third generation applies the know-how acquired in the production of French foie gras, with total mastery of the production chain. Magrets, confits, pâtés and other cooked dishes are prepared with care, quality and seriousness. All these dishes are available at the farm or on the website. Look out for the open house in autumn for a convivial moment.

Coming from the Marne, Victor Eglantier fell in love with the Léché farm, where he settled in 2013. Since then, he has been growing cereals, raising nearly 600 ewes and producing fruit and vegetables using sustainable agriculture. On the farm, in a wooden building, he has set up a store where he sells his production: apples, pears, apricots, peaches, asparagus and lamb meat, but also apple juice. He also offers products from local farmers (yoghurt, pasta, flour...) and from the family farm in the Marne (pomineau, champagne...).

Gourmets beware: it's impossible to leave Poitou without tasting its famous galettes and broyers (to be broken with the fist!). Head to Brioux-sur-Boutonne, to Chez Patissèvre, a biscuit-maker who carries on the recipes of the famous Goimier regional patisserie founded in 1987. Here, galettes and broyers are made to the highest standards. The flour is local, the eggs fresh, the butter of quality and the know-how intact. Other recipes to discover: the unmissable tourteau fromagé, melloise, macaroné, galette charentaise...

On the banks of the Charente, on the slopes of Chantegrolle, are the orchards of the Gargouil company. Since 1948 and for three generations, this family-run business has been committed to sustainable agriculture. The six hectares of orchards are certified eco-responsible. Some of the ten varieties of apples, pears and quinces are transformed into flat or sparkling juices, jams, purées or jellies on site in Charroux. These products regularly win medals at the Concours Général Agricole. To be found in the beautiful boutique!

Ah, the Jahan cheese cake! The local specialty par excellence. Some might say its black crust is ominous, but it's a real fresh, moist cake that's hidden inside. The Jahan company has preserved the original recipe, that of a cow's curd soufflé cake that a farmer forgot in her oven. Oops! But what a surprise to open it and discover its sweetness! You can find these little artisanal marvels and other delicacies such as croquants de Saint-Benoît in the factory store. An absolute must.

Here is a shop full of colors and good products! The philosophy is simple: to sell food from local agriculture, concerned with societal and environmental issues, with the aim of bringing producers and consumers together. In this former pharmacy, about forty producers are represented, mainly from the South of Vienne. Quality meat, jams, fruits and vegetables in season, here are some examples to fill your basket. Taste, quality, freshness and a warm welcome!

The Trois Noyers garden offers forgotten, organically grown vegetables, much sought-after by Michelin-starred chefs. But above all, Jacky Mercier's reputation is built on his beautiful, delicious tomatoes. He plants 5,000 of them every year, with 75 different varieties on a 2,000 m2 plot. They come in all shapes and colors: Crimean black, green zebra, Greek homaocteck... Don't miss: the tomato festival in early August.

From breeding to processing to selling, this snail farm carries out all the steps so that you can enjoy delicious cooked snails. At its head, Younic Demezil decided to reconvert in the production of large gray. The snails grow in an outdoor park of 1 000^m2. Once sorted and collected, they are transformed on the farm, in a laboratory. Loving cooking, he constantly invents new recipes: snails in the Burgundy style, chorizo-tomato, Charentaise, in marinade... the possibilities are numerous!

With its century-old butcher's workshop in Urrugne and its boutique in Les Halles de Biarritz, Maison Montamat has been a concentrate of expertise for 6 generations. With its terrines, pâtés, foies gras, hams and other cured meats, the emphasis is on traditional recipes and taste. Other specialties include prepared dishes (jars, ready-to-eat meals...) such as salmis de Palombe, axoa de Veau des Pyrénées, piperade au jambon, poulet basquaise and the delicious garbure du Sud-Ouest.

Hélène's hives are located on the edge of the Landes forest. If you wish to go there, you will be able to admire at this passionate beekeeper's place old models of hives, equipment of beekeeping of former times, which is very interesting. The points of sale: Lège-Cap-Ferret, Lacanau Océan, Lacanau Ville, Maubuisson, Carcans, Hourtin, Vendays. The honey of bourdaine obtained the silver medal in the Contest of the honeys of Aquitaine in 2007.

You're in the middle of the countryside, on the heights of the hills, and it's magnificent! This farm produces and sells raw-milk goat's cheese direct from the farm. You can come and buy at the farm on Friday mornings, or visit the markets in Grignols (Wednesday mornings) and Sainte-Bazeille (Sunday mornings) to stock up. You can visit the farm all year round by appointment. As the seasons go by, you'll see the goats and kids, the donkey, the draught horse, the pig and the dogs.

Dandelion, rose or fir jam, zucchini spread, melon syrup... Christine creates original combinations of flavors for unprecedented sweet treats! Drawing on her farm's varied but unused fruit and vegetables, she decided to transform them. She adds berries and flowers from her own harvests, and products selected from neighboring producers. Working in the traditional way, she makes delicious jams that she sells in local stores and at farmers' markets.

Odile and Didier Labas produce organic berries: raspberries, blueberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants, blackberries. In the summer, they sell them freshly picked. The rest of the year, they sell them in processed form: you will find a wide range of jams, jellies, syrups, vinegars and fruit jellies at the farm. A crêperie at the farm is organized on reservation in summer. The products are also sold on the markets and at the tourist office of Guéret. The farm also produces beef

Come and visit SARL Daguerre's farm direct sales store in the commune of Sainte-Marthe, where fields and greenhouses are lined up for market gardening. As the seasons go by, the harvests produce fruits and vegetables to fill your baskets with fresh produce and vitamins. Salads, apples, grapes, vegetables to concoct a ratatouille, melon or pumpkin, depending on the season. All ethically sourced, locavore and at very reasonable prices.

Cantelause? Cantelause means "sing the bird" in Gascon. At the gateway to the Landes, this family-run farm is located in a clearing in the middle of a wood planted with hardwood trees to protect the farm's homes and buildings from fire. Ducks are raised here, hand-fed on corn grain. Duck dishes and other ready-made meals are 100% homemade, including foie gras and jams. The farm's Solognot lamb is used to enhance Cantelause's famous couscous.

For the past ten years, Isabelle and Dominique have been passionately looking after their 50 hives scattered throughout the Médoc. This couple produces acacia honey and honey from various Médoc flowers such as heather. It is a small family business that produces 700 kg of honey per year. The most curious will be delighted to discover a glass hive that will explain how bees produce honey. You will find their products on direct sale, on the local markets and in some delicatessens.

Pierre-Antoine Lacabanne invites you to visit his walnut groves and his traditional corn-fed duck and goose farm. The products are prepared and cooked on site. In the shop you can find foie gras, confits, duck breast, galantines, pâtés, stuffed necks, walnut oil, walnuts, asparagus, truffles and ceps. All year round the farm sells fresh products: goose and duck, but also farm poultry, chickens, guinea fowl, ducks, capons, turkeys... They are present on the gourmet markets.

Want to know more about bees and the delicious nectar they make? Go to the honey house at Le Theil. Michel Blassel gives tours of his bee farm to groups, four afternoons a week in summer. He also welcomes trainees. He is part of the Bienvenue à la Ferme network. At the Miellerie du Theil, he harvests honey and pollen, but he also makes nougat. After the explanations, a tasting is planned during the guided tours. The products are sold on the spot and at the tourist office of Ahun.

Julien Lavergne is a real daddy hen, with his pullets and two young daughters who help him harvest the eggs in the henhouse. His hens are raised in the open air in a vast wooded field in Poussignac. During the festive season, he offers geese, turkeys, roasts, capons and guinea fowl with stuffing (foie gras, fig or chestnut stuffing). You'll find his stand with whole or cooked poultry, and poultry roasted on the spot in a rotisserie.

Michelle and Martial Mas de Feix welcome gourmets and amateur growers to their red fruit farm. In summer, if they wish, they can pick their own blueberries and raspberries. Otherwise, they can buy processed products (jams, jellies...) and fresh fruit directly at the Saint-Marc farm (by appointment) and at the markets. When the berry season is over, Michelle and Martial only offer processed products.

They are the only producers of foie gras in the department! Françoise and Philippe Champeval work as they do in the South-West, continuing a family adventure started in 1934. In the Truyère area, they make terrines and preserves of whole semi-cooked foie gras, duck and goose, with or without truffles. But their activity does not stop there, as Champeval also cooks game. They offer rillettes, pâtés and other cooked dishes. A tasty range to discover on the spot and on the web.

Paul Thirion, originally from the Paris region, got hooked on honey by making hives when he was a Compagnon du devoir. He left for Chile and then Italy to discover the profession of beekeeper on a large scale. He then arrived in Périgord and set up his first hives. Today he has 400 and he plans to increase this number to 500. Why black honey? Simply because the local bee is the black bee. The honey production is varied: spring flowers, Erica heather, borage, arbutus, callune, verbena, etc.

More than 80 producers have joined Plaisirs fermiers to offer you over 2,000 references of local farm produce. Farmers are on hand every day to advise you and answer any questions you may have about product traceability. Fruits, seasonal vegetables, meat, dairy and delicatessen products are all available. There's no middleman here. Plaisirs Fermiers offers short-distance sales to guarantee freshness and quality. It's a great way to discover the real taste of farm produce and support local agriculture.

In Lons, this store is a truly sustainable alternative to traditional food sourcing. Marché de Galatée's approach is to promote the local economy by buying local produce directly from farmers. The 300 m² store features nearly 80 producers, offering fresh, high-quality products (creamery, charcuterie, meat, vegetables, fruit, wine, etc.). The huge store supports local communities, while reducing food miles and packaging waste.

Benoit Serre, passionate about bees, has been a beekeeper since 2013. Today, there are 140 hives working for the Rucher du Marandou. He offers a wide range of honeys: spring honey, acacia honey, linden honey, chestnut honey ... You can visit the honey house, discover the world of bees through an exhibition and glass hives and taste 100% natural honey. You can buy honey and mead at the apiary or in about fifty sales outlets in the department.