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WINE&DINE
242
November14
Generally, they’re filled with a
combination of cheese, ham, sausage
or mushrooms, and topped with a
fried egg whose golden yolk shines
through; the typically Breton variety I
tried contained smoked salmon and
crème fraîche.
Sweet pancakes are just called
crêpes
, of course, and they’re made
from white flour. A good place to enjoy
either variety (or both) at would be one
of the many cafés lining the cobbled
streets of St Malo’s beautiful mediaeval
walled city, or “Intramuros”.
Beautiful Butter
In many part of France, bread comes
with butter only at breakfast; at lunch
and dinner, it’s served plain for the
mopping up of soups and sauces.
Not so in Brittany and neighbouring
Normandy, which are rightly famous for
their beautiful butter.
I found it impossible not to overindulge
in the world-famous artisanal
Bordier
butter
, handmade by master butter-
maker Jean-Yves Bordier in Normandy.
Found in the world’s top restaurants
– and of course in all the best Parisian hotels – its only dedicated outlet is the
Maison du Beurre, located in Saint
Malo’s old walled town.
Using a wooden paddle, they’ll
separate your portion from the mother
lode, slap it into shape and wrap it
neatly in wax paper. The simply salted
version is wonderful, but they have other
varieties, too – herby, garlicky, fruity
and more.
I’m still dreaming about the a small
slab of rich butter flavoured with
local black
seaweed
– indescribably
delicious, it would be as good tossed
with fresh pasta as it was spread thickly
(you could see the teethmarks) on
our chunks of cereal baguette. This
algae
, as it’s also called, is sold fresh
as a flavourful cooking ingredient, or in
the form of dried flakes, or mixed into
anything from ordinary sea salt and sel
de fleur to artisanal soaps.
Cabbage
is big, too. If the relatively
small local population were to consume
all the cruciferous vegetables I saw
growing in the area, they’d be eating
their weight in
choucroute
(pickled
cabbage) every week. Topped with
slow-stewed pork belly and other piggy
cuts, we demolished a huge pile of the
stuff at the Lion D’Or in St Malo’s old
town (
pictured left
), where they also do
a delicious pot of
moules marinières
–
with frites, of course.
It’s partly the salted local butter mixed
into the recipe for Breton
caramel
toffee, too, that makes it so wonderful.
Other local specialties include anything
to do with apples – Breton
cider
, and
the apple brandy known as
calvados
that’s the perfect way to end a meal.
À
votre santé!