Table of Contents
APPETIZERS.
SOUPS AND SALADS.
ENTREES.
FRUITS, VEGETABLES, AND SIDE DISHES.
DESSERTS.
CHEESE AND DAIRY.
WINE AND SPIRITS.
TASTE NORMANDY MARKETS.
Wines of France. French Beers. French Spirits.
At the top of France, with the dramatic English Channel beating at its front door, is Normandy. With more than 370 miles of shoreline, seafood is a specialty, ranging from lobster to mussels. Fresh fish and scallops even have their festivals.
The cold waters are a treasure chest of fresh fish and seafood.
But seafood isn’t the only item on the menu. The region is famous for its apples, pork, crepes, cheese, and dairy products. Normandy is the food-lovers heaven.
Normandy is no longer a wine region of France. But what they lack in grapes, they make up for in ciders and Calvados.
The regional dishes tend to be simple, rustic, hearty meals featuring the best of local products. Think “peasant” cuisine from days of old. You can Taste Normandy in every bite.
Taste Normandy Appetizers
- Coquilles Saint-Jacques – (Shell or scallops of St James) is famous all over France, but Normandy is where it tastes best. Scallops, fresh out of the water, go into a rich mixture of butter, cream, mushrooms, and Parmesan cheese. The traditional way is to bake them in a scallop shell.
- Hareng Saur (Smoked Herring) is one of the most popular preparations in Normandy. But they also grill, marinate, pickle, salt, and poach them. Depending on where you are in Normandy, you may get herring from the Baltic Sea or Atlantic. You can get into a no-win argument with locals over which one is better. PS – It is the same fish, the Baltic is a little smaller.
- French Oysters – have their own AOC (Controlled Origin Name). Normandy is one of seven distinct growing regions in France.
Soup and Salads.
- Marmite Dieppoise – is the north sea version of the Mediterranean’s Bouillabaisse, using the local cold-water fish and seafood. The Normandy recipe includes cayenne pepper, paprika, or curry. Another difference is refined butter, cider, and crème fraîche. Perhaps, it originates in the port town of Dieppe, one hour drive north of Rouen.
- Potée Normande (Pot au feu) is a soup with beef, pork, chicken, carrots, onions, turnips, leeks, celery, and spices.
Taste Normandy Entrees.
You have fresh seafood from the nearby sea. Beef, pork, and chicken come right off the farm. You can taste fresh.
- à la Normande’ – usually refers to the item having a sauce of cream and butter, and sometimes mushrooms.
Seafood
- Sole Meuniere – is fillets of Sole that they saute and serve with a lemon butter sauce.
- Sole Normande – is a fillet of Sole they bake and garnish with mussels, oysters, mushrooms, and shrimp.
Meat
- Joue de Boeuf – is a melt-in-your-mouth presentation of beef cheek. They slow cook it in a mix of apples, cider, carrots, onions, and various spices and seasonings. The preparation takes two days, and the finished product is tender and flavorful.
- Canard à la Rouennaise – uses local duck and is a specialty of Rouen. They partially roast the duck to remove the breast and legs. Then they prepare a sauce from pressing the remaining meat, bones, and skin. This process removes blood and juices from the carcass. They thicken this with ground liver, butter, and Cognac to create a taste Normandy does well. It takes a few bites before it calms down.
- Pré Salé lamb (pre-salted lamb) – is a treat from the area around Mont St Michel. The sheep graze in the salt marshes where high tides are continually adding salt to the soil. It seasons as well as tenderizes the meat. This practice dates back over 1,000 years. Today the lamb carries the AOC designation and the PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) status.
- Tripes à la mode de Caen – is a love or hate dish for most visitors. Traditionally, the recipe uses all of a cow’s stomach, hooves, and bones. They simmer these for up to 15 hours in a unique pot for just that, a tripière. Additional ingredients include root vegetables, garlic, peppercorns, a bottle of cider, and a good splash of Calvados. The final product is tender and flavorful.
- Tripes a la mode de Caen is a traditional dish.
Other
- Omelet à la Mère Poulard – is found near Mont Saint-Michel. The recipe/preparation is a secret they have been able to keep for over 100 years. Curious gourmands speculate that they separate the yolks from the eggs. Then they whip the white and yellow of the eggs separately before combining them. Cream and butter come in somewhere before they soufflé the mixture over high heat in a unique copper skillet. Is it an omelet or a souffle? You decide.
Fruits and Vegetables
There are no AOC vegetables from Normandy. But you will find most chefs purchasing them from a local market before reaching in a pantry or freezer. So expect them to be seasonal.
Normandy has more than 800 types of apples and 30 different pears. Although the fruit themselves do not have an AOC designation, only certain varieties can go into the AOC ciders.
Side Dishes
- Andouille de Vire is an appetizer, side dish, or entree depending on how you serve it.
They make this smoked sausage out of pig intestines and Guérande sea salt. This traditional Norman sausage can go on slices of bread, on salads, or with apples and caramelized onions.
Desserts and Sweets.
The French love their sweets, and Normandy has an abundance of apples (Pommes). So expect to find several desserts with apples.
- Caramel de Pommes Dieppois – comes from the same seaside village of soup fame, Dieppe. A local chocolatier begins mixing apple purée, soft butter, salted butter, and white sugar for a filling. People want it without the chocolate, so he begins selling jars of it. Is it a dessert? Is it a spread? All I know is it goes on any warm bread product like croissants, crêpes, waffles… I have seen it as an ingredient in pork and chicken entrees.
- Sucres de Pommes (apple sugar) – is an apple candy you can find in Rouen. This treat, dating from the 16th-century, contains sugar, apple juice, and lemon zest. They heat it up and then pour it out on a flat surface where they work it into small rods.
- Tarte Normande – is an apple tart. Traditionally it is a little dough and a lot of apples. In Normandy, you may find a dab of local Calvados or crème fraîche on top. On my plate, maybe a jar of Caramel de Pommes… Don’t judge.
Non-Apple Desserts
- Crêpes Normandes – seems to have as many recipes as chefs. Some add Calvados or cider (or both) to the crepe batter. Some extra salt. The general idea is you have a crepe batter. To this, you add apples you have been sauteing in butter, sugar, Calvados, and cream. Not the half and half, but thick, rich whole cream. Then you fry them in 10 pounds of real butter. OK, maybe a little less. Some then add salted-butter caramel drizzle over that.
- Caramels au Beurre d’Isigny (Salted Butter Caramels) – are available in most Normandy confectionery shops. They start with Norman salted butter, preferably from the dairy in Isigny. Then they add cream for hard caramels or Isigny milk for soft caramels. I stick with the traditional original caramels, although they now have over 70 varieties of toffees and caramels.
- Teurgoule – is a rice pudding with milk and sugar. They sprinkle nutmeg and or cinnamon on top. Baking them for several hours in earthenware dishes produces a thick, caramelized crust on top, similar to a crème brûlée.
- Trou Normand – is more a palate cleanser than a dessert, although it can be for after dinner. Often, it is a small glass or dish containing 2-3 bites of tart apple sorbet with a splash of Calvados over the top. Sometimes, it is just a shot.
Taste Normandy Cheeses.
- Neufchâtel AOC is a creamy light cheese coming from whole cow’s milk. Legend says that this cheese, originally from Neufchâtel-en-Bray, east of Rouen, is the oldest in Normandy. It may date to the 6th-century. It has a grainy texture and is saltier than camembert.
- Camembert AOC – has a fresh, soft, and fruity taste when it is young. As it ages, this gets sharper. Unpasteurized milk gives it a rich, complex flavor. When young, it has a pale, dry middle. It will get smoother as it ages.
- Pont l’Evêque AOC – is a cow’s milk cheese that does not require cooking or pressing. This soft, creamy cheese has an intense aroma and a square light orange rind.
- Livarot AOC – like many Normandy kinds of cheese, began in the monasteries. Using pasteurized or unpasteurized cow’s milk, the monks would make soft, golden cheese with little holes. It has a creamy texture that is runny at room temperature. The taste is nutty, a little salty, with lemon hints. It is delicious with local cider or Calvados.
Other Normandy Cheeses
- Pavé d’Auge – is a square, flat, cheese similar to Pont-L’Evêque. It is a light cheese with an orange color and small holes (eyes.) It has a rich, buttery taste. I think it is better if it ages between 2 to 4 months before tasting.
- Boursin – is a brand name. It applies to fresh cheese from Gournay-en-Bray, a commune approximately an hour’s drive east of Rouen. It is a soft creamy cheese somewhat similar to cream cheese. To this, they add a variety of flavors, the very first being Garlic and Fine Herbs.
- Brillat-Savarin – is a soft, white-crusted cow’s milk, triple cream brie with a high percentage of fat. Originating from the Forges-Les-Eaux area northeast of Rouen, today, most of it comes from Burgundy. When fresh, it resembles creamy cream cheese. As it ages, it becomes a creamy, faintly sour Brie.
- Brin de Paille – is a cows’ milk cheese from the Pays d’Auge area west of Rouen. This soft, creamy white cheese is similar to Brie but has a lighter flavor. Most people eat it while it is young.
Dairy
- Milk – Normandy dairy products have been in demand as far back as the Middle Ages, particularly those of Isigny. The AOC Isigny stipulates that the milk must come from the region. Also, they can only use traditional authorized methods.
- Cream
Normandy and Brittany produce many different types of milk products. Isigny cream is a thick crème fraîche with a minimum fat content of 35%. - Butter
The French consume more than 17 pounds of butter per person a year, so I guess they know their butter. Butter from Normandy and Brittany are the most popular. The butter from Isigny has its own AOC. There are at least 13 different varieties of butter.
Wines and Spirits.
Normandy is no longer an official wine region of France. Like many regions, the monasteries began producing wines at a time when local water sources were sketchy. Public sanitation did not exist yet. However, Normandy did not have the perfect wine-growing climate that so many other regions of France do. Over time, safe water and the importing of wine from other superior wine regions made commercial production obsolete.
One other little factor about Normandy brought an end to commercial winemaking. They were too busy making the best cider and Calvados in Normandy to spend time on inferior wine.
That is not to say that the local wine is terrible. Most of it is quite good and pairs well with the local Normandy cheeses. Southeast of Caen, there is a small wine area that is showing a new interest in viniculture. Near the village of Grisy is a commercial winery.
Since 2011, the wines of Les Arpents du Soleil have IGP (Indication Géographique Protégée) status. They predominantly make white wines, although reds are growing. Some of the grapes they use include Auxerrois, Pinot Gris, Melon de Bourgogne, and Pinot Noir.
Taste Normandy Cider
Cider-making in Normandy goes back to the Celtic Gauls. The Greek geographer Strabo (63 BC-24 AD) mentions the abundant apple trees and the Zythos drink while visiting the region. In the 9th-century, Charlemagne had standing orders for brewers always to have cider available.
Cider is a mixture of apple varieties they press for their juice. About 100 of Normandy’s 800 varieties of apples are for cider making. French cider is low in alcohol, but it’s not the cider mom would buy in the fall.
There are three types of cider:
- Cidre Doux (sweet) generally contains around 3% alcohol.
- Demi-Sec (semi-sweet), contains around 3-5% alcohol.
- Cidre Brut (dry) is around 4.5% alcohol but may be higher. Although they love their sweets with apples, most French drink the semi-sweet or dry cider.
After wine, French cider is the most popular beverage with the French.
Ciders come in various levels of quality (and price.) There are excellent quality ciders that come in champagne-style bottles (cidre bouché) and command similar prices.
Cider from the Pays d’Auge region has AOC status. That means they have to follow strict requirements. It must contain 70% juice from bitter or bittersweet varieties and more than 60% from the same variety apple.
Other AOC Products from cider
- Eau de vie from Calvados – is a clear, colorless apple brandy that receives its AOC in 1942.
- Pommeau – is an aperitif they produce by blending unfermented cider and apple brandy. It also has an AOC status.
Calvados
This liqueur gets its section. Calvados is more than an apple brandy; it is a whole region that came to be after the French Revolution (1789-99). The first written report of an apple brandy dates from 1553. So obviously, orchards all over the north of France were making apple brandies, long before the revolution. But the Calvados area takes it to an industrial level.
When the phylloxera outbreak hits in the 1850s, Calvados is in a position to up production. By the time the blight is over, circa 1875, 40% of the French vineyards are in ruin. Calvados is riding high.
In the early ’40s, Calvados receives AOC status. There is not too much fanfare as they are in the middle of a World War.
After the war, many cider houses and distilleries, while rebuilding, update with modern machines. The Pays d’Auge region, a subregion of Calvados, really moves into the 20th century.
- Calvados Pays d’Auge receives its own AOC status. It raises the bar by setting even stricter requirements for producing their brandy. They only allow 87 varieties of apple and 29 varieties of pear in the production. Today it is some of the most expensive Calvados in France. For better vintages, the price begins at over $100 a bottle and goes up from there.
- Calvados Domfrontais AOC – is apple brandy with 30% pear juice. This formula was the original recipe for most liqueurs in the Calvados region.
- Fermier Calvados (farm-made) – indicates they are producing Calvados on the farm in a traditional agricultural way. Although it does not have AOC status, they follow high-quality guidelines.
Respect Your Elders
Like other brandies, Calvados improves with age and therefore has several grades of quality (and price levels.)
- Fine, Trois étoiles***, Trois Pommes, VS, or Very Special – requires a minimum of two years of aging in oak barrels.
- Vieux Réserve – requires a minimum of at least three years.
- VO, Vieille Réserve, or VSOP (Very Superior Old Pale) – needs at least four years of aging.
- Hors d’Age, Extra, XO, Napoléon, Age Inconnu – requires at least six years of aging, but usually has many more.
And More Fruit Drinks
- Pommeau de Normandie AOC – consists of mixing two parts unfermented apple juice with one of one-year-old Calvados. Then they age it for close to three years. The end product has 16–18% alcohol by volume.
- Poiré or Perry – is a pear liqueur they produce just like cider. Some places even call it pear cider, which does not go over well with cider (apple) producers.
- Bénédictine – is another brandy, but it does not contain a drop of apple or pear juice. Twenty-seven berries, flowers, herbs, and spices, but no apples. Legend (stuff they make up) is that the original recipe is of the Benedictine monks of the Abbey of Fécamp. Production was in a small factory starting in 1863, using an old medicine recipe.
In the 1930s, they invent a drier version for people who think it is too much like medicine. They blend it with regular brandy to mellow the herbal taste. They call it B&B, Bénédictine, and Brandy. Today, the majority of the production of both of these products is in the United States. But it began in Normandy.
Taste Normandy Markets.
If you do not believe Normandy is a paradise for food-lovers, look at all the fresh markets they have. You can certainly taste Normandy at any one of these.
Weekday and Sunday markets are more seasonal, July-August, and some in June, depending on harvests. Saturday markets are more year-round. Check with locals upon arrival.
- Monday: Cabourg, Dives-Sur-Mer, False, Langrune-Sur-Mer, Pont-L’Evrque, Saint-Pierre-Sur-Dives, Vierville-on-Sea,
- Tuesday: Balleroy, Blonville-Sur-Mer, Cabourg, Caen, Courseulles-Sur-Mer, Deauville. Dives-Sur-Mer, False, Grandcamp-Maisy, Hermanville-Sur-Mer, Ouistreham, Thury-Harcourt, Touques, Vassy, Villers-Sur-Mer.
- Wednesday: Bayeux, Bernieres-Sur-Mer, Bonnebosq, Cabourg, Caen, Creully, Honfleur, Isigny-Sur-Mer, Orbec, Ouistreham, Potigny, Thaon, Trouville-Su-Mer, Villers Bocage.
- Thursday: Argencies, Asnelles, Blangy-le-Chateau, Cabourg, Caen, Caumont-L’Evente, Conde-Sur-Noireau, Douvres-La-Delivrande, Grandcamp-Maisy, Hougate, Beny-Bocage, Le-Molay-Littry, Livarot, Merville-Franceville, Saint-Aubin-Sur-Mer.
- Friday: Blonville-Sur-Mer, Cabourg, Caen, Cambremer, Courseulles-Sur-Mer, Deauville, Langrune-Sur-Mer, Ouistreham, Trevieres, Villers-Sur-Mer, Vire.
- Saturday: Aunay-Sur-Odon, Bayeux, Cabourg, Caen, Cahagnes, Deauville, Dives-Sur-Mer, Douvres-La-Delivrande, Falsee, Grandcamp-Maisy, Honfleur, Isigny-Sur-Mer,Lisieux, Luc-Sur-Mer, Ouistreham, Saint-Martin-Des-Besaces, Saint-Sever, Touques, Troarn.
- Sunday: Cabourg, Caen, Clecy, Courseulles-Sur-Mer, Grandcamp-Maisy, Noyers-Bocage, Ouistreham, Port-en-Bessin, Saint-Aubin-Sur-Mer, Saint-Martin-De-Tallevende, Tilly-Sur-Seulles, Trouville-Sur-Mer.
Fish Markets
Every morning: Courseulles-Sur-Mer, Dives-Sur-Mer, Grandcamp-Maisy, Ouistreham, Port-en-Bessin-Huppain, Trouville-Sur-Mer.
Festivals
Once spring arrives, it seems like there are fairs and festivals everywhere. Here is a brief list of just some of the festivals in Normandy.
March
black pudding festival.
May
Cheese festival
Camembert festival
June
Normandy cheese festival
Camembert festival
August
Livarot Cheese festival
Mackerel festival
September
Neufchâtel Cheese festival
Granville Seafood festival
Horse and cattle fair
October
Apple and Cider festival
Shrimp festival
Scallop and seafood festival
Mushroom picking festival
Normandy’s culinary traditions fair
November
Herring festival
Scallop and seafood festival
Andouille Sausage festival
December
Foie gras fair and most towns have a Christmas Market.
Taste Normandy Summary
By now, if you hear Normandy, you should immediately think of apples, cheese, dairy products, and seafood. Normandy is heaven for food-lovers. There are cheese trails, cider trails, and even ones for apple brandy. Signs along the road, apples for cider, keep you from getting too far off course.
There are festivals and markets throughout the year where you can taste Normandy as fresh as it gets.
Indeed people come to Normandy for history and art, but make sure you stay for the cuisine and cider. Once you taste Normandy, you will be back.