Charente, a culinary wealth to discover and taste

Foodies, gourmets and bon vivants, you have arrived in the region of culinary pleasure and gluttony. From aperitif to dessert, your taste buds will delight in local products prepared according to tradition, with unique know-how preserved and passed down for generations. At your table, let's start tasting!

Charente and its meats

Cooked, raw, marinated or braised, Charentaise meat is a delight to savor with:

• The cagouille or the luma, also known as the “little gray” snail, which has become the emblem of the Charente with its Charentaise recipe stuffed with butter, garlic and sausage meat.
• Chalais veal fed exclusively on whole milk under the mother, an ancestral tradition which offers meat that is meltingly tender, fine and tender in the mouth.
• The Barbezieux chicken is one of the oldest breeds of poultry, with its beautiful black feathers. Its fine and delicate flesh delights white meat lovers.
• Foie gras is also a meat produced in Charente, made from local farms with respect for animal welfare.
• Organic Auroch meat, produced in Nanteuil-en-Vallée by a passionate producer who makes cured meats, cold meats and ready meals. This product is not typical of Charente, but remains delicious to taste.

Charente and its drinks

Get ready to toast, Charente is a region renowned for its drinks, starting with cognac of course!

• Cognac, an emblematic eau-de-vie for its complex aromas and its finesse on the palate. Made from 6 defined vintages, it is perfect to accompany a dessert or as a digestive.
• Pineau des Charentes, a liqueur wine which benefits from the VLAOC designation (Liqueur Wine with Appellation of Controlled Origin) can be enjoyed as white or rosé.
• The IGP labeled Charente country wines offer white, red or rosé wines perfect for an aperitif or to accompany a good Charentais meal.
• Charentais brulot, a traditional recipe which consists of heating cold coffee with cognac, before flambéing it.

Charente and its cheeses

Served after the main course and just before dessert, cheese is an essential part of a Charentais meal. On the board, you will find:

• La Taupinette or Taupinière , a small dome made from raw goat's milk with a soft and light texture
• Manslois, fresh cow's milk cheese from Charente sometimes flavored with herbs or pepper

Local and independent producers also create personalized recipes, such as trou charentais or tomme charentaise.

Charente and its fruits

Enjoy local products available on the markets all year round. Depending on the seasons you will find:

• Charentais melon or cantaloupe melon with orange, juicy and sweet flesh. Delicious as a starter and even as a dessert, it can be enjoyed all summer long between July and September.
• The Charente walnut is harvested when ripe in September. Walnut kernels, walnut oil or fresh walnuts, find your favorite products in Charente.
• Black truffles, harvested between December and March near Angoulême, can be found on Christmas markets to the delight of gourmets. The best market for truffle producers remains that of Jarnac, organized every year at the beginning of December.
• The Duchesse d'Angoulême pear is a large round fruit with a sweet, melting flesh that is perfect for jam, pastries or compotes.

Charente and its sweet products

Save room for dessert, some sweet treats can be enjoyed without moderation:

• The Charentaise galette, a soft cake typical of the region. Flavored with candied angelica, it is made from butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla.
• Cornuelle is a specialty of Villebois-Lavalette, a small cake in various shapes with flavors of anise and lemon.
• Marguerite d'Angoulême is a real chocolate candy created in homage to Marguerite de Valois-Angoulême. Magnificent to look at, delicious to savor, it is found in pastries or chocolate factories like the famous Duceau chocolate factory in Angoulême.

The tasting is over!

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