Gastronomy

Regional specialities

Seafood, fish, cognac and pineau are amongst the delights available and the numerous restaurants ensure that even the most demanding of palettes will be satisfied. Comprising of both meat and seafood dishes, Charentais cuisine offers unlimited riches and appeals to all tastes. Everything that swims in the estuary is used to make fish dishes eg lampries, shads, sea bass and meagre to name but a few. Eels from neighbouring marshes are delicately and passionately cooked in the local restaurants. Grilled or cooked in the oven, with olive oil and fleur de sel: it's a pure delight.

Oysters all year round

Whether it's on the go at an oyster farm or on the menu in a top restaurant, here the local foodies don't pay heed to the old tradition whereby oysters couldn't be eaten during the summer months and eat them all year round. In fact, some people actually prefer the "milky" oysters of summer. In the Middle Ages they were cooked in a stew but nowadays they are cooked in the oven with a small slice of foie gras.

A range of shellfish

Other shellfish feature in Charentais cuisine: “cagouilles”, the “petit-gris” snails that are prepared in various ways. Mussels, eaten as mouclade or set out as a rosette and cooked using flaming pine needles - an éclade. Shellfish and crustaceans decorate the seafood platter: velvet crabs, crabs, whelks, soft-shell clams, razor clams etc. Let’s not forget to include boucs on that list, the small grey prawns that can be boiled or flamed with cognac, and elvers, the “grey gold” found in the Gironde, or the famous Aquitaine caviar. The best French caviar around! The story began in Saint-Seurin-d’Uzet, when the king of fish, the sturgeon, used to swim in the estuary. Nowadays they are reared in Saint-Fort-sur-Gironde.

The reign of Charentais Pineau

As food lovers soon find out, Charentais Pineau is great in the preparation of marinades, prepared dishes and casseroles. It goes well with mussels; its fruity flavour is a welcome addition to the mouclade. It is also delicious with melon, foie gras, blue cheese and many other culinary delights. It is made from white and red grape varieties by prematurely stopping the fermentation of the grape juice through the addition of aged cognac. It is then aged in an oak cask. Pineau is best drunk cold, as an aperitif or dessert wine. A celebratory wine!

The grands crus of Bordeaux just outside of Royan.

Whether you stay on the same bank or cross the Gironde by ferry, the names ring out like a promise of exquisite pleasure. To the south of Royan, the nearest vineyards are côtes de Blaye then côtes de Bourg towards the edge. In Médoc you can try three mythical wines: Saint-Estèphe, Pauillac (with three premiers grands crus classés: Château-Lafite, Château-Latour and Mouton-Rothschild) and Margaux. From these chateaux, you can tour the vineyards and discover many crus.