The aperitif
You'll start in Thouars with a Duhomard, a flavored wine created in 1926 and now available in three variants: red (gentian, bittersweet orange peel), white (gentian, cinchona, orange, cocoa) and cherry. Commercial traveler Emile Diacre developed this restorative aperitif in memory of a prank: in 1922, while feasting at the traditional Massais fishing-banquet, the aforementioned Diacre fell asleep to discover a superb passion-red cooked lobster on his hook. The incongruous crustacean was a hit, attracting hundreds of onlookers to Massais in subsequent years... Initiate yourself to angelica liqueur, produced in Niort since the 17th century, obtained by macerating the seeds and stems in Cognac: in cocktails, with white wine and tonic, or more gently, cut with homemade apple juice. Its beautiful, tangy green color and sweet, tangy taste will provoke an unequivocal reaction: love it or hate it for life!
Make your mouth water with a slice of farci poitevin, an equally racy dish. But what is it? A cabbage terrine seasoned with garden herbs (parsley, chives, chervil...) and seasonal leafy greens (spinach, chard, sorrel...). Add chunks of pork loin and bacon before amalgamating, and cook for a long time in a pot with cheesecloth, and you're done. There are as many recipes as there are cooks, although this specialty of the Civrais region is less commonly homemade: expect to spend a long day preparing it, if not all the charcuterie of the Poitou and Charentes regions. Enjoy it cold or as a quick snack (possibly as an appetizer) on a slice of toast generously spread with Echiré PDO butter. Since 1894, the master butter-makers of the Deux-Sévrienne dairy cooperative have been uncompromising in their adherence to manufacturing protocol: skilful maturation and churning of the cream in teak barrels, the same ones that give it the creaminess so appreciated by Michelin-starred restaurateurs. This La Mothe-Saint-Héray speciality is eaten from breakfast to afternoon tea, traditionally in slices: fouace, a kind of brioche bread praised by François Rabelais in Gargantua. Made by fouaciers from 1292 onwards, the most famous fouace was produced in Bagnault, only to fall into disuse after 1918. Today, and since 1902, only one Mothaise bakery holds the very secret formula of the authentic Rabelaisian fouace, jealously promoted by the eponymous brotherhood: La Mie paysanne. A slice of grilled fouace is the perfect accompaniment to foie gras, smoked salmon or warm goat's cheese. A top-of-the-range version, with shavings of black truffle, will delight the most discerning palates... Your kids will love it plain, with butter or jam, or sprinkled with fruit: "c'est viande céleste manger à desjeuner raisins avec fouace fraîche" (Gargantua, 1534).
The entries
Did you know that the Vienne region is France's leading producer of melons? A delight as fresh as it is sweet from the Haut-Poitou region, you'll need to learn how to select it - if it has the IGP label, a convincing aroma and the pecou peels off, you've stumbled on a grand cru. As for the cracking, this tells you how ripe the fruit is. Enjoy it here with a touch of salt. Share it cold or warmed up with a green salad, often as an appetizer, but not only: discover the local star, the addictive savory Easter pâté from Poitou. A festive springtime dish, as its name suggests, this meat pie owes its unique flavor to whole hard-boiled eggs (often halved), four-spice powder, mushrooms and a trio of chicken, rabbit and pork meats - the great houses used to add a fine meat, sweetbreads for example, and salsify. Here's a pro tip: too much pork kills the mood, so much so that it'll be almost impossible to find the real taste of Mémé's at... the butcher's.
The dishes
Lovers of meaty delights will set off on a road trip through the Deux-Sèvres region in search of the finest piece of Parthenaise beef there is! The industry developed in the 19thcentury , when phylloxera wiped out the vineyards, prompting Cognac producers to convert to dairy cows (hence Charentes butter): up to 1 million head of cattle were produced. The 1950s, mechanization and the return of vineyards sounded the death knell for the Parthenaise, which didn't return to the limelight until the 1980s, when this breed convinced breeders and gourmets alike with its fine, tender, juicy meat. Any table in the Deux-Sévres is sure to serve you a top-quality piece.
Going to the Marais Poitevin? Let yourself be lured by a coulonnaise eel gratin, otherwise prepared as a bouillure. Once a staple of home cooking, especially fricassee, eel is now rare and a highly refined dish. Enhance your gastronomic experience with a Sauvignon Haut-Poitou, a round white wine.
In the Vienne region, treat yourself to a piece of IGP Poitou-Charentes lamb, or Diamandin-Label Rouge. The chevreau (also known as bicot or cabri) livens up the tables at the height of the season in early May. You'll be amazed at the soft, white meat, similar to that of a gallinaceous bird, traditionally enhanced with aillet and sorrel. You'll be served baked (especially the hindquarters) or sautéed in a casserole, deglazed with Sauvignon, or even soaked in Pineau des Charentes. Poitevin cuisine is very mixed, with influences from Saintonge and Vendée: cagouilles, bread-fried mussels or mojettes could well complete your menu...
Cheeses
Archaeological digs in Pamplona have revealed goat bones dating back over 5,000 years. It's also worth remembering that France owes its position as Europe's leading producer of goat's milk to the livestock of the Neo-Aquitaine region and, among other contributors, to the Poitou region: that just goes to show how inseparable this animal is from the region! Discover a whole cultural heritage at the Maison des fromages de chèvre in Celles-sur-Belle. Among the dozens of cheese specialties, you'll notice the Mothais sur feuille, which originated in southern Poitou, named after La Mothe-Saint-Héray. This soft, creamy goat's cheese is made from fresh, whole, raw milk, slowly drained on a chestnut leaf (more recently on a plane tree leaf): this process, once used by the peasant, gives it its soft texture. You're no doubt familiar with Chabichou du Poitou PDO, the undisputed master of cheese platters, with its truncated-conical shape (or bonde, a piece of wood used to seal barrels). The curd is molded into a dish with a CdP stamped on the bottom: this mark, although difficult to discern after maturing (at least 10 days), distinguishes the real chabichou from a counterfeit.
Desserts and sweets
You conclude your meal with the most famous local sweet speciality, broyé du Poitou, a hard galette made from a simple mixture of flour, eggs, butter and sugar (the real trick lies in the baking - not so easy to fail, not so easy to succeed) and decorated with the tip of a knife. The pastry is meant to be convivial: it is broken with a fist before being presented in shards on a platter. It was also used as a galette des Rois. Industrial or artisanal broyé, plain, with walnuts, with candied angelica or flavored with orange blossom (Robuchon's favorite version) is a must: you'll find it absolutely everywhere. Its shape, burnt crust and distinguished taste make it the other monument of Poitou pastry-making: the unmissable tourteau-fromagé, a tourterie (cake, in local dialect) made with fresh goat's cheese and a hint of vanilla. In the old days, each family had its own earthenware mould: a shortcrust pastry was rolled out, the mixture poured into it, and then baked until the crust was fully puffed up and deliberately burnt. Traditionally presented at weddings or Easter, this much-loved curiosity is now eaten all year round, not only as a dessert, but also as a breakfast or snack. Tourteau-fromagé was the code name chosen by Radio Londres to communicate with the Deux-Sévrienne Resistance. For those who appreciate the digestive freshness of fruit, bite into a Clochard reinette apple, a long-keeping variety (5-6 months in the cellar) created in Secondigny, in the Gâtine region. Finally, you'll find it just about everywhere in France under other names, such as mijet, a wine soup with dry bread. It was common to sweeten it with canned fruit, such as cherries in syrup. Not to be confused with chabrot (on fait chabrot), the end of a soup diluted with wine.
At coffee time, let yourself be softened by this little marvel of a rock with a tender heart: the macaron de Montmorillon. The cookie, brought into fashion in the 16th century by Catherine de Médicis, made the small town famous from 1811 onwards, as did its traditional recipe - almond powder, egg white, sugar - from the Chartier sisters and their apprentice Marie Métivier. The latter passed on the recipe to her daughter Madeleine, married to Rannou. The anecdote is important, because the Rannou-Métier family cookie factory, which has been using the same formula for 150 years, is the oldest guardian of this know-how. To find out more, visit the Musée du Macaron in Montmorillon (www.museedumacaron.com) all year round.
