BRITTANY
Brittany: Cuisine of the Open Sea
The cuisine of Brittany is one with elements from the open sea and the open air. It is a mixture of fresh mackerel and sardines, pork rillettes and shortbread cookies. And let’s not forget cider and crêpes for those with a sweet tooth. If you absolutely love seafood, Brittany has fresh delicacies that you can enjoy in every season. From Rennes, the capital of the region, comes the cuckoo, which is sought after for its meat and eggs, the Petit Gris, a type of snail to be eaten whole with garlic and parsley butter, and last but not least, the famous galette de blé noir, a type of crêpe made from buckwheat. In Cancale, taste some famous oysters (both flat and cupped) depending on the season and the tide. Don’t forget the legendary madeleines with their lovely citrus smell. And then there is raw seafood and shellfish, fish soup, dishes served with "armoricaine" sauce, charcuterie, raw smoked ham, wheat crêpes, far breton (a type of flan), quatre-quarts cake, and butter cookies.
Regional Specialties:
Make sure to taste:
- shellfish, seafood, and fish: scallops, lobster from Brittany, moules à la marinière (mussels with white wine and shallots), skate fish in brown butter sauce, and crab Parmentier
- meat: kig ha farz
- vegetables: artichokes, cauliflower
- crêpes and galettes: crêpe bretonne, galette bretonne, and galette saucisse (with sausage)
- desserts: far breton, gâteau breton (type of cake), Kouign amann (type of cake, and quatre-quarts cookies
Regional Cheeses:
Cheeses to enjoy here include Emmental and Raclette.
Wines and Spirits:
There are different types of cider:
- AOC from Cornouaille
- "Royal Guillevic" Red Label
The region is renowned for its beer, chouchen (a honey-based alcohol beverage), cider, lambig (apple eau-de-vie) and fine de Bretagne (a type of brandy).
Helpful links:
Festive France
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Mel P.
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Breton Crêpes with Caramelized Apples
(serves 5)
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: a few minutes for each crêpe
Ingredients:
for the crêpe batter
2 cups (½ liter) milk
3 cups (300 g) flour
⅔ cup (125 g) sugar
3 eggs
3 ½ tablespoons (50 g) butter
a pinch of salt
For garnish:
5 red apples
7 tablespoons (100 g) butter
Powdered cinnamon
⅔ cup (120 g) sugar
1 ¼ cups (30 cL) dry cider
½ glass of Calvados
Preparation:
In a shallow dish, beat 3 eggs with the flour, 1 cup (100 g) of sugar, and a pinch of salt. Slowly add the milk and the softened butter to obtain a smooth crêpe batter.
Leave to stand for one hour.
Next, make the thin crêpes using your crêpe pan. Lightly grease the pan before pouring the batter on it. Keep the crêpes warm.
For garnish:
- Peal the apples and cut them into small pieces. Brown the apple pieces in 2 tablespoons (30 g) of butter.
- Sprinkle with ½ cup (100 g) of sugar and then add the butter, Calvados, and cider.
- Garnish the crêpes with the apple preparation and keep in a warm place until ready to serve.
- Drizzle some syrup on each plate and place the crêpe on top.
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