Local specialties
Stars of the local specialities, the galettes and the crêpes arrive at the top of the bill. In your glasses, you will find a multitude of ciders, sweet, semi-dry or raw, many Breton beers, and even since a few years Breton whiskies and gins... To name but a few, the remarkable Naguelann whisky of Lénaïck Lemaître and the Malouin's gin distilled in Languenan or the cider of La Flibuste, born in Saint-Briac. More rarely, ribot milk, whey resulting from the manufacture of butter (that of the farm of Renaudais is famous). It is a fermented milk with a refreshing sour taste. Let's add as a favorite the Moustache artisanal ice creams!
On the meat side, there is the Prés-Salés lamb from Mont-Saint-Michel which has held its PDO since 2012. It owes its name to the fact that it grazes on the grass of the meadows invaded by the sea at high tide, which gives its meat a softness that we remember for a long time.
Fish, seafood and shellfish
On the market stalls and in the good restaurants of the coast, you will be offered various fishes from the daily fishing: sole, pollack, turbot or dab. Depending on the season, the sea bass will also be available! In foil, on the barbecue, in broth or in the pan, you will accompany it all with a glass of Muscadet.
Langoustines, lobsters, spiders, edible crab, periwinkles, clams, Breton bouquets, grey shrimps, flat and hollow oysters, cockles are some of the seafood and shellfish that will cross your path.
Cancale and the producers of the small oyster market will make you discover their oysters with a delicious iodized taste. Flat or hollow, small or large, there is something for everyone! The creuse, raised on the coast, is less salty than the flat oyster which is cultivated in the open sea. As a general rule, the flat oyster, the Breton oyster par excellence, is exquisitely fine, its supporters give it all the virtues and many find it has a delicate nutty taste.
Scallops are always an exceptional dish. They are eaten from mid-October to mid-April until the Festival of the shell which is held every year alternately in Erquy, Paimpol, Saint-Quay Portrieux and Loguivy where the last fisheries are celebrated in a festive atmosphere.
Bouchot mussels settle preferably near estuaries, where fresh and salt water mix. Bouchot is an old Breton word which means wooden fence. The mussel is appreciated with the marinière, obviously, but also with the curry, with the cream...
Lobster... Armorican style or American style? Fraysse, a great chef of the last century, invented this American-style lobster, but he was more than inspired by the way the natives of the Atlantic and Breton coasts prepared it. Having, it is said, refined the recipe, he proposed it to American customers. They appreciated the master's preparation and the lobster became American style! Whereas it is of base to the Armoricaine.
The spider crab, with its so delicate flesh, is in fact the most famous crab of Brittany. It likes sandy or muddy bottoms, very sensitive to the salinity of the water, it avoids the mouths, where fresh and salt water mix. It is simply savored with mayonnaise spiced up with a touch of garlic.
Dairy products in Brittany
Here the salted butter is Bordier butter! With three shops in Saint-Malo, Jean-Yves Bordier, son and grandson of a butter and cheese maker, is leading the way and making his butter known internationally. Available in several flavours: buckwheat, seaweed, lemon or chocolate. You can also go off the beaten track and try butter from small local producers such as the Renaudais farm in Plouër-sur-Rance.
Although Brittany is France's leading dairy region, it is not a land of cheese. What a paradox! You'll have to let yourself be carried away by Normandy on this one. Three cheeses from the region to be served all the same: the creamy cheese from Mont Saint-Michel, the Bleu d'Émeraude from the Darley cheese dairy in Ruca near Matignon and the cow's milk Reblochon from Benoît Chauvin in Gevezé near Rennes.
Malo's unmissable yoghurts have put happiness into its cardboard pots, which are a delight for children and adults alike. For 60 years, the Malouin company has been producing its petits-suisses and its chocolate and caramel rennet. Malo yoghurts can be found in all the supermarkets in the region. An organic range has also appeared.
Fruits and vegetables
Two vegetables are the pride of their producers on the Emerald Coast. You will find cauliflower and potatoes. Buckwheat, originally from Asia and also called buckwheat, has been grown in Brittany since the 16th century. It is naturally "organic", as this plant from poor countries is content with very little, requiring no fertiliser, no pesticide, no preservatives and no storage insecticide.
The knife or cider apple regularly plays the role of a bone of contention between Bretons and Normans, who nevertheless have many recipes in common. Starting with cider, fermented apple juice. In the north of Ille-et-Vilaine, apples and apple juice are mixed in a large basin to obtain pommé, halfway between jam and compote, brown and delicious.
Oils, spices, condiments
Spices have their master in the region with the Roellinger House. Olivier Roellinger has created a remarkable selection of spices from around the world. Two shops in the area: one in Cancale and one in Saint-Malo Intra-Muros.
Sweets
Gavottes® are fine lace pancakes cleverly rolled on themselves and born "by accident" in 1920. They exist in pure butter version, but are also available coated with chocolate. They have been produced for over a century by the Loc Maria cookie factory in Dinan.
As far as artisanal cookie factories are concerned, we can also mention Kerlann, the cookie factory from Cancale which sells retail products, or, in a completely different style, the Biscuits Joyeux located in Dinard. They offer in their stores, as well as on many markets in the region, their wide range of artisanal cookies: palets, buckwheat shortbread, palms, butter shortbread, kouign-amann, Pommard, far breton...
Another local specialty: crackers, small scalded cookies, cup-shaped, without sugar, that we appreciate spread with salted butter, jam or spread.
In Breton, the famous kouign-amann means butter cake... Clearly, it is a leavened dough to which we will incorporate butter, butter and more butter, salted and if possible farm.
The salted butter caramel is also a star in its own right in Brittany. Its manufacture remains always the same: sugar mixed with water and cooked on a high heat to obtain the caramelization.
What about drinks?
In Brittany, water is everywhere: streams, brooks, rivers... Recognised as a natural mineral water by the Ministry of Health since 1928, Plancoët mineral water is the only mineral water in Brittany.
We can also mention wine in the Emerald Coast (yes, you are not dreaming!). Admittedly, in an anecdotal way, but there is a tiny vineyard, Le Clos de Garo in Saint-Suliac, a charming and peaceful commune on the banks of the Rance. Historically, Brittany was also a wine-producing region!
As for beer, the breweries of Saint-Malo offer two beers made within the city: Malo and Port-Malo. Bosco in Saint-Méloir-des-Ondes offers organic beers and on the other side of the dam, the Émeraude brewery offers a red beer, Pylône, and a very pleasant and refreshing white beer, Delta.
Upper Brittany also has its share of cider producers who each make their own artisanal ciders: we are thinking in particular of the Ferme des Landes in Saint-Cast, the Sorre cider factory in Plerguer, or La Flibuste in Saint-Briac. We also suggest Val de Rance, which can be found on every table in the region and is produced by the Celliers Associés cooperative in Pleudihen-sur-Rance.
Spirits, brandies and liqueurs
The chouchen is mostly taken as an aperitif, but some people enjoy it at any time. It is a fermentation of honey in the presence of water and apple or wine yeast. AOC Brittany brandy is obtained by distillation of cider and is a spirit of character. Also called "Lambig de Bretagne" or "Fine Bretagne" depending on the region of production, it must be aged for at least 2 years in oak barrels to deserve its AOC.
Pommeau de Bretagne AOC develops a very rich aromatic palette, varying according to the terroir, the tannins, or its age. This regional aperitif par excellence is best served between 8°C and 10°C, allowing you to appreciate its roundness, authenticity and subtle aromas. In 2019, Charlotte and Thomas Jourdan created Malouin's, a gin from the Emerald Coast distilled by Lenaïck Lemaitre who already produces his own whisky, Naguelann in Languenan.
Fairs and markets
Many towns in the region have covered market halls which operate all year round. The market of Dinard is undoubtedly the most famous, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays morning. In Saint-Malo, each district has its own: on Monday, Thursday and Saturday mornings, the Rocabey market is very pleasant, while on Tuesdays and Fridays you will have to go either to Saint-Servan or to Intra-Muros. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, it will be the occasion to go for a walk in the district of Paramé. In Lancieux, it takes place on Tuesdays, in Pleurtuit and Ploubalay on Fridays, in La Richardais on Thursdays.
Some markets are only held in summer, as is the case in Saint-Enogat, on Wednesdays in July and August. In Saint-Briac, the weekly market takes place on Fridays all year round, and in summer a second market is held at La Houle on Monday mornings. In Saint-Lunaire, the Sunday market is very important in summer, and it is completed by a market of local producers on the esplanade of the mini-golf, on Wednesdays from 5 pm. Finally, Pleurtuit also organizes a second market, on Fridays from 4 to 8 pm from May to October.
