From cheese to Calvados, Normandy is celebrated for its gourmet specialties and traditional dishes. Here are some favorites.
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CHEESE
Visit the Maison du Camembert to discover the history of this emblematic cheese, first produced in Camembert in 1791. The other Norman cheeses are just as delicious. Try Livarot, Pont-l’Évêque and, for a romantic dinner, the irresistible heart-shaped Neufchâtel.
APPLES AND PEARS
Follow the picturesque Route du Cidre through the Calvados countryside around Cambremer, through enchanting villages. Meet producers and buy cider, pommeau (apple liqueur) and calvados (apple brandy) as well as apple juice fresh from the farm. Visit the Calvados Experience at the oldest Calvados distillery, Père Magloire, in Pont-l’Évêque. Also watch out for pear cider or Pear, especially around Barentan in the Orne.
BLACK PUDDING
Black pudding is the specialty of Perche and in particular of the pretty village of Mortagne where each merchant has his recipe and the annual Pudding Fair brings together amateurs from all over. Attention to the members of the brotherhood, or brotherhood, in their ceremonial robes.
SCALOPES
Port-en-Bessin and Dieppe are Normandy’s largest scallop fishing ports, but this king of seashells is celebrated with music, entertainment, and street food in various coastal towns in the fall. On the menus, do not miss the Coquilles Saint-Jacques de Normandie, the indigenous variety labeled Label Rouge.
BENEDICTINE
In 1863, a wine merchant from Fécamp found a lost recipe created by Benedictine monks at the beginning of the 16th century, reconstituted the drink and ordered in his honor a flamboyant mansion with turrets. A tour of the lavish interior ends, of course, with a tasting.
From France Today magazine
