Cool Atlantic waters, nutrient-rich fjords, and proud craftsmanship: Discover why the coasts of Galicia and the Basque Country are considered the best fishing grounds in the world. We introduce you to our 7 top artisanal producers – from the legendary Ramón Peña to the hidden gem Lulinas.
This summer, I was spontaneously able to take 10 days off. Since I have been working with La Belle Iloise for a long time and had not yet visited Brittany, I packed my bags and put my wife in the car. Our base was on the Crozon Peninsula in Finistère. From there, we visited various sardine factories in a star-shaped route. We got up at 6 a.m. on the very first day and were already heading east by 7 a.m. Breton morning mist surrounded us. At 10 a.m., we were in Quiberon at La Belle-Iloise. La Belle-Iloise is one of France's last sardine factories. Although it is very large and constantly expanding, the working methods are still the same as they were 100 years ago. Of course, machines have taken over a lot of the work, but the most important task—sorting and parrying the fresh sardines—is still done by hand. We bought many new products to taste, which we may soon add to our range. With great difficulty, we managed to visit another of our suppliers, La Quiberonnaise. The La Quiberonnaise factory is located directly at the port opposite the fishing boat landing stage. La Quiberonnaise buys unsorted sardines, which means they also offer smaller sardines. They offer anchovy fillets preserved in olive oil (like the sardines), which we already have on our menu. They also work with the "butter pope" Jean-Yves Bordier and produce sardines with Bordier butter with him: sardines with natural butter, with butter with algae from Roscoff, and with butter with yuzu. We already have these in our range. Here too, we bought many samples. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we were not able to tour the factory. We visited La Compagnie Bretonne des Poissons there, had a tasting, and bought more samples. The Compagnie is another family business with a long history, but much smaller and with less variety than the other two sardine factories. The next day, we drove north in Finistère to Roscoff. Just before reaching our destination, we passed by an impressive number of artichoke fields. The harvest was in full swing. We were in Brittany's famous "golden vegetable belt". Information can be found here: Artichauts du Léon. We had an appointment at Algoplus, an artisanal cannery that started with algae processing. The headquarters is in Roscoff because that is where the world's largest concentration of edible algae can be found. As always, we bought many samples and were already delighted by the various rillettes. We are meeting again in September at a gourmet food fair in Paris and will decide after that. In the afternoon, we drove to Carantec to visit Alain Madec's oyster beds "Prat-Ar-Coum". Unfortunately, no one was there. We will come again. After that, we had the whole week off and were able to look at the places that interested us. The weather was very good, no rain, only sunshine at temperatures around 30 degrees. Our favorite restaurant was at the Hôtel Thalassa in Camaret-sur-Mer. Everything is fresh and comes almost directly from the sea to the table; the cooking is good and respects the products. You also have to eat galettes and crêpes in Brittany. They tasted best to us at the Crêperie "Le Korrigan". Time flew by and we set off on our return journey. We had the last appointment of our trip in Orléans at the Vinaigrerie Martin Pouret. The Martin Pouret house has existed since 1797 and is today the last and only authentic manufacturer of vinegar and mustard according to the traditional Orléans method. Martin Pouret preserves the centuries-old recipes and local craftsmanship according to the rules of the royal edict of 1580. The natural vinegar from Orléans is made exclusively from wines of the best French grape varieties and is aged in oak barrels according to the traditional Orléans method. Only from good wine do you get good vinegar!Orléans vinegar is a combination of three factors: temperature, air, and time. The Orleans method is a natural conversion from wine to vinegar. Surface fermentation takes place without stirring the wine, without the addition of yeast or oxidation accelerators. Oak barrels (240 l) are filled halfway with vinegar and vinegar mother. This maximizes the surface area. 50 l of wine are added. At an ambient temperature of 28 degrees Celsius, the wine turns into vinegar within approx. 3 weeks. After that, Martin Pouret vinegar matures for at least 12 months in oak barrels at a temperature of 15 degrees Celsius. The result is incomparable to industrial vinegar, which is manufactured within 24 hours. In the rooms where the barrels are stored for fermentation, it took our breath away and our eyes burned. But it still smelled good. Packed with more samples, we were able to start our journey home. Outside temperature 37 degrees! On our trip, we were not only delighted by the beautiful, varied landscape, but also by the friendliness of all the people we came into contact with. We will definitely go again.
In September 2019, my wife and I were in Porto and visited a few winemaker friends. Because of the harvest, we were immediately put to work. First, we visited Márcio Lopes, our supplier of the Vinho Verde “Pequenos Rebentos”. In the Douro Valley, near Peso da Régua, Márcio has his second foothold and vinifies Douro wines under the “Proíbido” and “Permitido” brands.
Almost exactly a year ago, my wife and I were in Porto and decided to visit our seafood supplier Ramón Peña in Galicia. It is not far, about 200 km to the north, in Galicia (Spain).
The “Arribas Wine Company” project has its leased vineyards around Bemposta. The creators are two friends, Ricardo Alves and Fred Machado, who are advancing their project with a lot of energy, physical effort, passion, and expertise. We were warmly welcomed on a Sunday, and Ricardo drove us straight to the vineyards in his old off-road vehicle along a rough track. The vines are already very old, at 80 or even 100 years, and no longer yield much.
Cidre, French apple wine, is the perfect drink for spring and summer. It is refreshing, sparkling, and light, versatile in its pairings, low in alcohol, and rich in flavour. We visited François Huet of Cidrerie Pierre Huet at his estate in Cambremer, Normandy.
In mid-July, Philippe and his wife Evi were in Portugal once again. Their main reason was to attend the Vinho ao Vivo wine fair in Porto, but of course, the two of them discovered and experienced much more.
Champ Divin’s Crémant du Jura has been the undisputed favorite of our team for about three years. So it was finally time to visit the winemaking couple Valérie and Fabrice Closset at their estate. In addition to Crémant, we were able to taste many other very distinctive and typical Jura wines.
In early June, our whole family went on a little wine tour from Champagne through Burgundy to the Jura and visited several winegrowers.You simply learn best when you can see, hear, feel and taste where the wine comes from. Besides, nothing beats personal connections! A highlight of the five-day trip was our visit to Champagne Moutard in Buxeuil, one of the smallest communes in the Côte des Bar in southern Champagne. Read and see here how warmly the "Buxeuil Boys" welcomed us, and immerse yourself with us in the "Champagne Feeling"!
Yes, we are sardine lovers! Sardine lovers are people who love sardine cans – whether full or empty as a collector's item. Although we prefer the full ones. One of our favorite sardine brands comes from Matosinhos, about ten kilometers northwest of Porto on the Atlantic coast. This port city is home to Fábrica de Conservas Pinhais, the Pinhais cannery, which we had the opportunity to visit on our last trip to Porto. Here you will learn what makes Pinhais & Nuri so special. Enjoy!
The Cheese in Bra trade fair, organized by Slow Food Italia, is for professional gourmets and cheese lovers of every stripe, what Mecca is for a good Muslim: the holy pilgrimage city that one must visit at least once in a lifetime. This year, we two sisters were also there and felt like we were in cheese heaven. A short trip report.
As part of our visit to the SIRHA food trade show in Lyon, we recently paid a visit to our cheese supplier, Paccard. The family-run business with 12 employees is based near the picturesque village of Manigod in Haute-Savoie, which can be reached by car via winding mountain roads. Although we had not made an appointment, the owner, Jean-François Paccard, took a lot of time out for us. For an hour, he guided us through all the aging cellars and showed us the various other departments where the very fresh cheeses are delivered or prepared for shipping. The perfect finishing touch was a tasting of different cheeses, with which we were served a glass of Crémant de Savoie to celebrate the occasion – it was Philippe's birthday.
