Discover some of France’s traditional food products, one month at a time!
Guadeloupe, A French département in the Caribbean, is known not only for its black sand beaches and warm waters, but also for rum! Rhum de Guadeloupe is a cultural institution of the Creole culture of this Caribbean island that goes back deep in the island’s history, to the first sugar cane plantations. Guadeloupe produces two […]
The Granville Bay Whelk, which is from the Cotentin area of Normandy, was registered as a protected geographic indication (PGI) by the European Commission earlier this year, becoming the first new French agricultural product registered in 2019. The whelk is a gastropod mollusk fished in the Granville Bay, to the west of the Cotentin Peninsula […]
The uncontested queen of the table olives, the Black Olive of Nyons was the first French olive to obtain protected designation of origin (PDO) status in 1997, making it for several years the only variety of olive in France or Europe to benefit from this status. Twenty years later, this olive continues to preserve and […]
The uncontested queen of the table olives, the Black Olive of Nyons was the first French olive to obtain protected designation of origin (PDO) status in 1997, making it for several years the only variety of olive in France or Europe to benefit from this status. Twenty years later, this olive continues to preserve and […]
The artichoke is an old crop in the Roussillon area of southern France, where it has been cultivated since at least the 17th century. In around 1830, the production of this crop booms. Starting in the beginning of the 20th century, it is shipped all across France and to Germany and England thanks to the […]
Picodon cheese is a goat’s milk cheese coming from the Ardèche and Drome area, in the Rhône valley region, and has benefitted from Protected Designation of Origin status since 1983. Picodon, whose name comes from the local Occitan language and means “spicy,” is a creamy, full flavored cheese that has been described as slightly sour, […]
Provence thyme is one of the newest French agricultural products benefitting from protected designation of origin status, having been granted EU-wide protection by the European Commission in October 2018. A perennial, Provence thyme is grown either in fields or collected from the wild. Provence thyme is easy to distinguish from other varieties of the thyme […]
The Coco de Paimpol is a variety of bean, presented in pods, that has benefits from protected designation or origin status since 1998, but has been grown in Brittany since at least the 1920s. Grown around the town of Paimpol, in northwestern part of the Côtes d’Armor department on the coast of northern Brittany (northwestern […]
The first wood to obtain protected designation of origin status, Chartreuse Wood is a sign of quality and authenticity. Renowned for its resistance and solidness for several centuries, this construction wood, produced from pine and spruce trees, is also part of an initiative of preserving the territory and environment through a well thought-out forest management […]
The cider of Brittany is a drink that is truly emblematic of this coastal region of northwest France. It is made from a selective choice of cider apples and presents fine bubbles and a light foam. The apples come from varieties that range from bitter, bittersweet, tart, or sweet and must be produced in the […]