The food and drink of the Loire
France > Loire > Travel details > Food & Drink
The Loire is renowned for the softness of its climate and the richness of its soil, qualities that help produce some of the best fruit and vegetables you'll find anywhere. From Anjou's orchards come greengages, named Reine Claudes after François I's queen, and the succulent Anjou pear. Market stalls overflow with summer fruits, particularly local apricots. Tarte tatin, an upside-down apple tart, is said to originate in Lamotte-Beuvron, in the Sologne. Tours is famous for its French beans, and Saumur for its potatoes. Asparagus, particularly the fleshy white variety appears in soufflés, omelettes and other egg dishes as well as on its own, accompanied by vinaigrette made (if you're lucky) with local walnut oil. Finally, from Berry, comes the humble lentil, whose green variety often accompanies salmon or trout.Given the number of rivers that flow through the region, it's hardly surprising that fish features on most restaurant menus, though this doesn't guarantee that it's from the river itself. In fact, if it's salmon – protected by law – you can be certain that it's not. Favourites are filet de sandre (pike-perch – a fish native to Central Europe), usually served in the classic Loirebeurre blanc sauce; stuffed bream; matelote of local eels softened in red wine; salmon (often flavoured with sorrel); and little smelt-like fishes served deep-fried (la friture). The favoured meat of the eastern Loire is game, and pheasant, guinea fowl, pigeon, duck, quails, young rabbit, venison and even wild boar are all hunted in the Sologne. They are served in rich sauces made from the wild mushrooms of the region's forests or the common champignon de Paris, cultivated on a huge scale in caves cut out of the limestone rock near Saumur. In recent years, some producers have experimented with exotic varieties such as pleurotes (oyster mushrooms), shiitake and pieds bleu. Both Tours and Le Mans specialize in rillettes, or potted pork; in Touraine charcuteries you'll also find pâté au biquion, made from pork, veal and young goat's meat. Though not as famous as the produce of Bordeaux and Burgundy, the Loire valley has some of the finest wines in France, and there are well over twenty different appellations to discover. Sancerre, the easternmost Loireappellation, produces perhaps the finest white wines in the region from the great Sauvignon grape, while at the other end of the river, the whites of Muscadet, around Nantes have an acidity which makes them perfect for washing down the local shellfish. Anjou's rosé wines are ideal for a summer evening, though in the same region you'll also find the famous Coulée de Serrant, part of Anjou's dry white Savennières appellation. A little further east, around Saumur, the renowned soft red of Saumur-Champigny stands out. Touraine's finest reds – Chinon, Bourgeuil and St-Nicolas de Bourgeuil – get their ruby colour from the Cabernet Franc grape, while many of its attractive white wines are made from the Chenin Blanc (known locally as the Pineau de la Loire), including the highly fashionable Jasnières. Fruity, Beaujolais-like reds made from the gamay grape are increasingly popular, and best suited for drinking young. At the other end of the spectrum is the honeyed complexity of Côteaux du Layon's so-called dessert wines – best with blue cheese or foie gras rather than pudding – and Vouvray's still, sweet and semi-sweet whites, which only release the best of the Chenin Blanc grape after decades in the bottle. Vouvray, just east of Tours, is equally renowned for its sparkling méthode champenoise wines, a rival to Montlouis, across the river, and the full, fruity sparkling Saumur – a good example of which is a serious match for most Champagnes. Touraine makes something of a cult of its goat's cheese, and a local chèvre fermier (farm-produced goat's cheese) can be a revelation. Four named cheeses are found on most boards, and each can be recognized by its distinctive shape: Ste-Maure is a long cylinder with a piece of straw running through the middle; Pouligny-St-Pierre and Valençay are pyramid-shaped; and Selles-sur-Cher is flat and round.
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