Le goût des rivières : cressonnières, civelles et savoir-faire d’eau douce | Trésors du Patrimoine

Le goût des rivières : cressonnières, civelles et savoir-faire d’eau douce | Trésors du Patrimoine

In the far north of France,
in the Pas-de-Calais department, lies the natural region of Audomarois. Within the Hauts-de-France region,
this highly agricultural area, well known for its beer,
is also ideal for growing various fruits and vegetables. This flat country,
surrounded by plateaus and valleys, was a very commercial region
in the Middle Ages and still bears the vestiges of wars ranging from the Gallo-
Roman era to the Second World War. Its trends over 660 square kilometers
and bordered by 90 kilometers of waterways This region is mainly irrigated
by the A, a coastal river which flows into the North Sea. Within this land lies the
Audomarois marsh, which extends to the Nord department
and is the first market garden marsh in France. This mosaic of sandy patches
below sea level is crisscrossed by waterways
called Water Gang. Spread over 15 municipalities and 3,627
hectares, this UNESCO biosphere reserve is widely exploited for its
peat and its biodiversity includes no fewer than 300 plant species,
including around ten protected ones. In the commune of Houlle, Lionel Persine,
originally from Doma-Royce, produces Houlle gin,
a cereal brandy with a juniper berry flavor. Available from aperitif to
digestif, genever was an iconic drink of the 1800s. Less than 5 kilometers away, in Tilleck,
along the canals of the Audomarois marsh, Véronique, 24,
is also from the region. It is on this land that she cultivates
various vegetables, including watercress,
a plant typical of the marshes of This semi-aquatic vegetable is a cruciferous plant with
diuretic properties and rich in vitamins. So, a beautiful watercress has
beautiful leaves without holes. It has its beautiful grooves on its leaves. It makes a lot of roots. And in fact, if we put
a leaf, a stem, a root back into the basin, it will start again. It is on this family farm
that Véronique cultivates watercress in twelve ponds. Placed from upstream to downstream,
they allow the water not to stagnate and to flow continuously
into the marsh pits. A perfect territory for this plant,
requiring peat, but also fresh,
natural and always regenerated water. So, the water in our pools comes
directly from artesian wells or natural springs. So, it is water that comes
directly from the water table. So we are checked every year
for water quality. And every four to five years,
we carry out random checks on the peat, the watercress itself
and the water again. The day there is a problem,
it is the closure of a pond or the complete closure
of the watercress beds. Growing Veronica’s watercress
without fertilizers or chemicals is a very demanding job,
particularly because of predators such as moorhens,
bushcress and small insects. She seeds her ponds by
broadcasting or mowing, and harvests the watercress from September to May. So here, actually,
is our seed basin. We’re going to keep it,
let it flower and grow our own seeds with it. And that allows us, in fact,
to preserve our strain, to never buy seeds again. And it is always our watercress that is
truly undefined from the others because it is a seed that has been there for
six generations now. She never left the family. And it’s a little bit of our pride,
because it’s a watercress, but with very broad leaves, and it’s
a little more piquant than the others. This culture requires
significant maintenance work. Handmade, and
using only basic tools. A heritage is a way of working
typical of this region that was passed on to her by her father, with whom she
now works as a partner. When I was 16-17, for me, I did
n’t think I would do this. And then, from one day to the next,
I said to myself: This is a heritage to be preserved and I couldn’t miss out. There was a turning point,
which I don’t know how or why, but in the end, I found my path
and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Further into the marshes, in Houlle, a
town of around a thousand inhabitants, another historic family
from the region works on a typical product of the North, Houlle gin. It is in this emblematic distillery
that Houlle genever is produced. Created in 1812 by the Coq brothers,
it was taken over after the war by Jean-Marie Persine. When he ceased his activity in 2012,
his brother Jean-Noël took over the management and his son Lionel,
then a pharmacy student, also decided to continue the family adventure. Lionel now works on design,
bottling and marketing. A versatile job that leads him
to perform all kinds of tasks, such as today delivering
the cereals used to make gin. This distillery
is a bit like family heritage, regional heritage. I think it was quite natural
that I had deep down the desire to be able to perpetuate all these traditions. We still have a nice company,
we have a nice story. And then, I would say, keep
writing it, keep evolving the distillery. Originally used as a medicine
in the Netherlands, juniper berry became popular
as an alcohol in the early 19th century. Highly appreciated at that time
by miners, this drink was initially consumed under the name Bistouille, a
mixture of coffee and swell gin. Building on its success in the 1850s, there were
no fewer than 70 distilleries. Today, there are
only three left in France. The taste of juniper is a bit like a
mixture of all the raw materials. That is to say, we must have a taste for
cereals on one side, since we will work with the cereal first. Juniper berry
brings a floral note, a hint of bitterness that makes this
drink much more pleasant, very tasty,
and leaves a taste in the mouth. To maintain this territorial spirit, they
buy the three cereals used to make
Houlle gin locally. The main cereal that we will use
the most here will be rye, which will be the largest proportion. Oats are a little bit special
because, in fact, they are a cereal. They are a fruit on which we have
yields that are not great, but which, on the other hand,
will bring a lot of flavor. Because it’s a cereal
that’s a little bit fattier. So, it will bring a
little more body to the product. And then malted barley, that
‘s an essential element and is used in all grain products,
whether beer, whisky or gin,
since it’s what will allow the starch to be transformed into sugar,
thus enabling fermentation. 300 kilos of cereals will be mixed
and passed through a crusher, in order to obtain flour. It is a wooden shovel,
because to avoid breaking the grain on the ground and causing flour,
so we take a wooden shovel, then especially the lightest ones. These grains will then be brewed
in a tank, called a material tank, into which hot water will be poured
to obtain a liquid paste. So, we’re going to start here,
with water at about 80 degrees. And when we stop adding
water, when we have added the flour, we will be at around 50 degrees Celsius,
and the temperature will drop very slowly during the mixing,
which will allow the complex sugars to be transformed
into less complex sugars. This process, called sacarification,
lasts between three and four hours. This step transforms the starch
into sugar to create a sweet mash. So, there, 32 degrees,
we can add the yeast. So now,
it is the yeasts that will be able to, in fact, transform the sugar into alcohol,
hence what we call fermentation. This sweet must will be left for several days
in an open fermentation tank allowing the carbon dioxide
and ethanol to evaporate. He will then become an alcoholic limp. Highly diluted, this liquid will have an
alcohol content of around 3 degrees. It’s a job full of surprises. It’s a job I love and it’s a job
where you have the opportunity and the chance to be creative. And that’s
something I really like. And then, working on taste,
when I go to meet people, it’s being able to
talk about pleasure, about happiness. That is priceless. This passion and know-how,
passed down by his family, gave Lionel the desire to distill
Houlle genever in his turn. Just like him, in the marshes, in Tilke,
Véronique is today moving on to an important stage in the production
of watercress: harvesting. Each strand intended for marketing
will be picked by hand. A long and delicate job. So we surround it with a health link. It’s our registration number, our
department number, the name of our company. And that’s to say to have a follow-up,
a trace, if ever there would be a problem with the watercress. And in terms of hygiene, in fact. So there, once cut,
we will store it in a cold room. Generally, we always cut
for the same day or the day before. Knowing that it can still be kept for
two to three days, in a cool place, with water. So the harvest for 2016
was actually a good harvest, even though we started a month later. At the time of sowing, there was
a lot of water, we were unable to dry the ponds in time. But we made up for it. We had a month of downtime here
in January with the frost. And there it restarts well and it is good. Véronique sells directly from her
farm, which is open seven days a week. She also sells
at regional market stalls. So, we hold markets to attract
our customers, those who don’t necessarily come to us. And then, it allows us to bring them
marsh vegetables and especially watercress which is cultivated
very little in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. We, in Ouedo-Marouh,
are the last. The next day, she was
at the Audruic market, accompanied by her father,
selling her watercress. It also has various
old vegetables such as the Tilke carrot, the large green
Anc artichoke or the Redmix radish. Here is.
THANKS. Thank you very much.
Good day. So, we have four markets a week,
on Tuesday in Bourbourg, on Wednesday in Audruic, on Thursday in Petite-Sainte
and on Saturday in Dunkirk. To bring vegetables
from the Marais a little further north, towards Dunkirk. We sell quite a few of them, more and more. As the years go by,
people come back to him. I have always loved croissants. We always bought
croissants at home. I knew the little one
I was as a kid. I was crying for you. Apparently it’s
very good for your health. So it’s perfect. It can be cooked in different ways,
raw or cooked, in salad, soup, cake or even simply on toast, and
is very popular with customers. We eat the leaves in salad and I
cut the stems at the roots and keep a length of stem
to be able to make them into soup. It tastes great.
It is not necessary… For a soup, you don’t
need a lot of… You don’t need a lot of it.
It’s done quickly and it’s very good. I’ve been going to the markets with my
parents for eight or nine years now. But when I was little,
during the holidays or on days when there was no school,
I already came with them. If Véronique goes to markets
with her family, it is to share her passion and to be able to introduce her
product to new consumers. A few days later,
in the Houlle Distillery, fermentation is complete. It is therefore with Christophe,
who has worked in this company for 27 years, that they will be able to
distill the alcoholic must. He is in charge of this
crucial part carried out using these two Charentais- type copper stills, which
run on gas. So, we have two stills which are
practically twins, except that this one has a mixer,
that is to say there is an agitator which is in the bottom of the tank,
which allows the bottom of the still to be mixed so that it does not burn. It rises in the neck of the cyne,
It passes into a coil which is soaked in cold water and the vapors
condense and flow there, here, in liquid. The particularity of their distillation,
which gives such an interesting bouquet of taste to their gin,
comes from the three passages in the still of the same mash. The first two passes,
carried out several times, will distill the alcoholic mash until
obtaining an alcohol reaching approximately 38 degrees. The third, longer passage will give
an alcohol ranging from 40 to 55 degrees. It was at this time that Lionel
d’outre to the bays of Geneva. So, we’re going to place
a little less than 5 kilos of Geneva berries on a traditional genief,
in a bag like this one, which we’re actually going to immerse in the still. And there, it will be a little bit like the principle
of the tea bag, that is to say that our juniper berries
will infuse during distillation. And it is the vapors that will carry
the aromas, the perfumes of the juniper berry. Only a tiny amount of water will
then be added to adjust the alcohol content. A long and expensive technique,
but which will give all these flavors to the finished product. The transition to the aging room
is an essential step. The juniper is kept for years
in its oak barrels, from Limousin or Mont l’Ardiaque. In a sense, we will have what is called
the famous angel’s share, that is to say an evaporation of juniper,
an evaporation of alcohol. But also, with this exchange with
the air, we will have oxygen which will enter the barrel and which will be very
important since it will give rise to oxidation phenomena
which will make the aromas more complex and which will also make it possible
to soften the sensations of alcohol. It is in six aging rooms
that Lionel will be able to produce several ranges of products,
from aperitifs to digestifs. A method aimed at targeting different
consumers, but also at reinventing the uses of juniper alcohol. Thanks to aging in oak barrels,
we will have a range of flavors that will be quite wide, in fact, on our junipers. We will start with young junipers,
where we will really be focused on the taste of the raw materials. We can compare it a
little to gin, a white alcohol. But the longer we extend the
aging time, the more this aging will
have an impact on the taste. The older ones,
with a more woody and fruity taste, can be kept for up to
30 years in these barrels. Today, Lionel is testing one
of his mature barrels. The realization is the reward
for these long years of waiting. Typically,
the result of aging in an oak barrel, at the Geneva level,
we have the beautiful color in real life. And then, on the nose,
we have sensations that we didn’t have at all when it came out of the still. There will be smells
of dried fruits and dried apricots. We will also have a woody taste,
the taste of wood that we will find in the mouth. And that is typically what will
coat the taste buds and what we will feel when tasting. 50,000 bottles are sold each
year in delicatessens, to individuals or to restaurateurs. So, 39 degrees, 4 to 9 degrees Celsius. So there, we will have to look
at the tables to see what that corresponds to at 20 degrees,
at a temperature of 20 degrees. A handcrafted production that does
not allow it to be sold in large-scale distribution. It is on the canals of the
Odomarois marshes that Luc Barbier travels aboard his boat, the Diversitaire. As a regional park officer
and correspondent for the Ramsar area, whose aim is to conserve
wetlands, he works on all fronts to preserve this regional biosphere. The Mareau de Marwa
has 170 km of ouatringue rivers which are freely accessible to all
visitors who wish to come here. And we have 560 km of ditches which are more
linked to market garden plots, to private plots today too,
and which allow access by boat to almost everywhere. The last cultivated marsh in France,
it is classified by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve. Once inhabited by 300
market gardening families, there are now only around thirty. We have the last postman in France
by boat who makes his rounds every morning and who serves around
fifty homes in the winter and then around a hundred in the summer, because in the summer,
there are all the residents who come to spend time at their homes
and who makes his rounds by boat every day, whatever the weather. For him, watercress is an
important heritage to preserve, but more than that, it is of considerable use
for the preservation of the marsh. This is why he
often visits Véronique. Hello, how are you?
How are you. There are water supplies from the ground,
groundwater that feeds the marsh, because there is
no fertilizer here. And so, the water that passes through here
goes back into the marsh afterwards, allowing the marsh to have
quality surface water. So there is a link between the activity
here and the marsh that is just behind. Its role with regard to farmers is
to support them in traditional market gardening techniques. Increasingly rare,
he tries to collect all the documentation he finds
on marshland cultivation. Historical research
is a bit of a special nut. Producers don’t
necessarily have the time. We don’t know how to do it either. We can go and get
that information. And we also have a Pedagogy
and Environment team that can help develop the tour scenario
and content so that they are truly in line
with either the school cycles or the level expected by the visitors. Véronique, who organizes tours every
day of the week, believes that it is essential
to communicate in order to perpetuate her cultures, which many have forgotten. In older generations,
we weren’t the only ones here in Tille, which had several crosseunières. I’m the last one to have taken one. It’s still
quite physical and demanding work. We are very proud to be able to
continue cultivating it. I think it’s very important
for us and for people. It is a vegetable that should not be wasted. To preserve and conserve this
Odomarois heritage, Lionel is today organizing
a tasting of Houlle juniper-based products in his shop. He is accompanied by his uncle Jean-Noël,
Christophe, as well as two local producers. Fabrice, a brewer,
recently settled in the region. To develop his range of beer,
he naturally thought of using a local product
typical of Odomarois. So, I did my little tests,
I had some friends taste it and when the result was conclusive,
I came to knock on the door of the Distillery to present
a little bit of what I had done. And I was received in a
very warm and masterful manner. For us, it’s a nice little
extra showcase, to be able to communicate around our
name, the genius of Houlle, the Houloise. He now markets
Houloise, a beer with a golden color, not very oblong and a slightly spicy taste.
He also maintains this collaboration with Thierry. Passionate about cooking and
recently turned professional, he created bistoule, a jam that is
reminiscent of the flavors of yesteryear. At first, I wanted to use
genief in jam, but I wasn’t inspired by anything
that was red fruit, a traditional fruit. Then one day, while talking with Lionel,
I suggested apple, coffee, and genier, and then you said yes straight away. Well yes, because the idea
seemed good to me. And then there was just
that little reminder, the name. And the name.
The name Bistoul. So, from the moment we managed
to find, in fact, a harmonious mix,
I think there was a great possibility of doing
something interesting. And it is clear that
this is the case. To conclude this tasting,
they will have the privilege of savoring a limited vintage of Houlle genever. A vintage, to be drunk in moderation, which will be
released in the coming days. So, here is the little
story of this one. So, it’s a blend of old
junipers that has aged in classic barrels, and which has just spent five
years in old Sauternes barrels. So, we’re going to marry a little bit of the
sometimes slightly dry side of juniper, with a little more roundness, therefore
with the decorative wine of Sauternes. I think, because we’ve already tasted it, we
have some interesting things. I think we
still have many good years ahead of us at the distillery and, above all, the opportunity to continue to
develop the product and the brand. I think it’s essential. We cannot simply rely on
traditional consumption of the product. We are signing up for a product
that is high-end. We work on tastes. The goal of the game is to continue
to amaze our customers a little bit. And if we can continue to do this,
I hope that, in turn, I
can pass the torch on to a successor later, as my father did with me. To keep alive traditions that are being
lost more and more every day, Lionel and Véronique decided to
take over their ancestors’ business. Although it is difficult these days to maintain
old-fashioned farming techniques, these two Audomarois have made them a strength
to offer unique products to consumers. This motivation, which pushes them
to continue to practice, helps to restore the image of a territory that is
too often discredited and reinforces the idea that it is still
possible to return to productions historically anchored to their terroir. It is the city of the City. The Blayais region is famous throughout the world
for its vineyards, but is also full of
unsuspected riches hidden in these estuarine landscapes
of lowlands and marshes. The Gironde sets the rhythm for this land of tradition
and know-how that the Vauban citadel of Blaye fervently protects. Nothing seems able to disturb
the tranquility of these immutable landscapes. Well sheltered, under these mounds of
black sand, the Blayais asparagus is the pride of Lionel, who sees, despite the rain,
the spring vegetables appearing. Not far from this sandy area,
Florian probes the banks of the estuary in search of elvers, the fry of
the eel which is nicknamed Pibale here. 400, 500 grams. It was from the port of Vitreset,
in the heart of the marshes, that this family history of elver fishing began. My father was a fisherman,
so it came a bit naturally. We used to go fishing when we were little,
with my brother. I had it a little bit in my skin. We fish with heavy PIBAs,
an installation we have on the boats, a station that we unfold
and immerse in the water, we filter the water, we push
against the current to fish for elvers. So
when the water rises or when the water falls, day or night,
depending on the weather, marshes. We fish for elvers
really along the coast, on the coast, along the coast,
in very little water, in a meter of water. Where there is not too much current,
and where it passes the most. Long considered a
poor man’s dish, the consumption of elvers exploded in the 1990s. Recently, a new market has opened up
with Asian countries, which demand live elvers for farming. In fact, it is still impossible
to breed eels in captivity. Today,
it is a highly regulated fishery, and elvers are also
fished for restocking. But there, he tries to go up
the estuary and then the rivers. And then, well, he
also looks for fresh water a little. There it is, the end of the season. These are really the last marshes,
so there isn’t much left. It really is the end of the season. But there, I’m going to close
the nets to stick to fishing. So, here I close and then I’m going to
turn the boat, and then we’re going to stick to fishing. So there we go,
for half an hour, basically. In 30 minutes.
And we’re good. Let’s leave Florian to go back up the banks
of the Gironde to find Lionel’s asparagus fields,
where the first Blayais asparagus of the season are being picked. There are a few more
this morning, without empty steps. Well yeah. So here we come to the furrows
that have been cleared for harvesting. So here we are, we can see a bit of
the collection technique. So this is the tool
with which we pick asparagus. So we call it
a spoon or a gouge. So, we take it by the handle,
we push it along the asparagus to the bottom and by making a
backward movement, we peel off the asparagus. I’ll show you. There, we have an asparagus, we scrape a little,
we put the spoon, the gouge, the length, we push, we go to the bottom,
we pull, we take off and we have the asparagus. These asparagus are grown in pots under
transparent tarpaulins for certain early varieties
or under black tarpaulins away from the light so that they retain this
very white colour, so characteristic of Blayais asparagus. So there you have it, the asparagus is
just showing its face. So there, when we see it like that,
we scratch around a little. This is a pretty asparagus from Blayais,
with a well-closed head. When you plant them,
it’s actually a claw and then it’s like a tray, actually.
And there are lots of… On this plant, in fact,
there are lots of eyes. And it’s this growth that makes
it look like this asparagus. So there, in fact, this one sticks out. But next to it, if we scratch,
there are some that will be 10 cm, 15 cm. And so as the days go by,
it continues to grow alongside. Hence the difficulty of
picking only the one that is pointing and not breaking the others. If we scratch, there we are. There we see that it’s really… So we see the asparagus. You see there, next to it, there
is an asparagus that was underground. You see, there are about 3.4 cm. We would have found this one tomorrow. These deep black earths are
75, 80 or 90 percent sandy. That’s typical of us. It’s the asparagus from Blayais,
that’s what gives it its taste, in fact. This makes the soil supple, and
therefore the asparagus tender and tasty. Boat fishing uses
a process called drossage. This involves deploying two large nets
against the current to filter the water and collect the elvers among
the shrimp and juvenile fish which will then be released. We make half-hour strokes
so that the pivot remains alive and does not tire it out. So 30 minutes, 20 minutes,
it depends on the co-leaders. When there are big coefficients,
every 20 minutes. It must be spotless and alive. Okay, but it’s not great. It’s not too bad. A little shrimp,
not much elver. Generally, at the beginning of the season,
it is for consumption. And then we move on to repopulation. In general. Afterwards, we could
also start repopulation, the same. It also depends a little
on supply and demand. That’s it for today. Intensive fishing of the Elver
almost caused the species to disappear. Today, to preserve the resource,
quotas and very strict regulations have been put in place,
particularly to combat poaching, which has developed on a large
scale following the surge in the price of elvers. So there you have it, today’s fishing, yeah. Not a big peach,
around 400, 500 grams. So here is the Elver,
the small eel, which arrives on our coasts
to grow in the river. It is in this exceptional setting of the port
of Vittrezey that Jean-François carefully guards the
traditional recipe for Pibale. There, they are very good,
they are still alive, so it will be easier to work with. We’re going to add a little
drop of vinegar. It’ll kill them,
it’ll degrease them a little to remove a little bit of the slime. I’m going to make a little parsley in the over-glazed corner, in the marshes. That’s how it’s
90 percent prepared. Even the old ones
do it like that. They taught me. This is what 90 percent of the
people in the swamps do. First on the edges, so we mix well. Grab it, there, you see, there,
they are very good, there. I’m going to add a little parsley. Light. So. So, there are some
who consume them like that. I prefer them lightly
deglazed with white wine. After that, it all depends on taste. So. We’re going to be fasting. I used to fish with a friend,
we would catch between 30 and 35 kilos on Friday evening, which we would sell
on Saturday to make Java afterwards. But it was worth nothing. So since it was worthless,
there wasn’t enough to finance it. Now, anyway, there are
only professional fishermen. There are only
professional fishermen left. The private sector can no longer have the right to it. He is no longer allowed to fish for pival. The die-hard locals, there, the
whole estuary, let’s say, went up to Saint-Sorlin, there,
all that went up there, well, it’s true that they take it rather badly. Because it was a
traditional product for them. And their culture.
Yes, it was a culture. It was their culture to do the epival. Yes, if we can have some. Even if it’s just, like,
once a month. If we could eat
a small portion like that once a month, every winter month,
that would be wonderful. Jean-François,
what do you think? I’d be happy to prepare them for you. That’s really the old one. It’s really good. I think it does something to others,
but it does me a lot of good. Jean-François always enjoys reviving his old tastes. Back from the fields,
Lionel immediately takes care of his asparagus to preserve
this unparalleled freshness. So, here is the first step,
when we arrive from the field. So,
we put the asparagus in the car. Arriving here, we unload them again. We do a pre-soak, in fact,
and a pre-wash to remove the bulk of the soil
so that afterwards, it is cleaner at the level of the cut and the final wash. Here is the pre-wash. The crates were stored here in the cool,
waiting to be washed and cut. There, I have a person who was
setting up the mats. These boxes are taken and
put into the tank where they are suspended in water to make
the work easier and to catch them more easily. Below is the cutting part. We can’t access that. The cutting part,
before washing, cuts them. The waste that
falls into this carpet is evacuated into a trailer behind. And in the tunnel, we have jets below
and above which allow the asparagus to come out clean outside. Asparagus is a family affair,
and Lionel’s mother still keeps a close eye on the farm she
built with her husband. She watches with fondness as her son
modernizes production and leaves his mark on the farm. For example, with the arrival
of this optical sorter. It takes the photo, and with dimensions
depending on… If it’s crooked,
straight, it’s the color. And depending on that color, in fact,
it determines where it comes out every time. So now we
come to the cold room. So that’s actually where we… As soon as we take them out of the machine,
we bring them back here. So we open it, there’s
humidity, 98 percent. So there’s fog,
so we can’t see anything. I’m going to catch you… I’m going to catch two or three crates
to see how it goes. And then we close it. So here are two examples of GIp asparagus. So that’s what we
call white 16-22. This is the most
common category of what we do. Well, that’s the most there is. And after that,
I took out the big asparagus. So that’s 28 and up. Where there, that is more intended, as I
said earlier, for restoration. Alongside production,
Lionel enjoys sharing his passion with his passing customers. An opportunity to introduce
this local product. We have asparagus of different sizes. I don’t know if they’re looking for
thin ones or thick ones. I can show you.
Yes, I’d like to, please. I can show you. So this is asparagus,
the 16-22 we call it. All right. A little bigger, in purple. And the very big one, following… Okay, very good. Depending on why it is done. What is the difference
between violets and whites? The color, that’s for sure.
All right. But after that, it’s mostly
the technique of… Or at least, how we picked them up. This is asparagus
that never saw the light of day. All right. These saw a bit of light,
so they came in purple. Taste-wise, it won’t change anything. But we classify them
like that with the PGI. In addition, we are obliged to… Because we have had a PGI for two years,
so now we are obliged to really downgrade
into categories, by caliber and by color. Okay, very good. On the other hand, I can
offer you a taste. I’d like to. THANKS. I don’t taste it, I know it. Yes, not gluttony. There, we really feel the sweet side
of the asparagus. It’s tender, it’s melting, it’s
pleasant in the mouth, it’s not hard at all. And then,
there’s only the best, so… There’s only the tip. It’s still better
to be able to sell directly. We value more,
we talk about our product. It’s also very interesting to
talk about what we do. This is also the basis of our profession. In the supermarket, we don’t have
all this advice. Well, there we see the producer,
we see the place of production. It’s also nice
to see all this, though. Let them taste this delicacy from Blayais to find Florian and Stéphane, his fishmonger, who comes to
collect the product of his fishing. Hello, Good morning.
How are you ? Was the fishing good?
We can’t see much, no. No.
This is the end, isn’t it? There isn’t much. Effectively. This is the end. So we put them in a strainer to
drain them, what we call a chinois. It’s like ours, it’s the kitchen. We drain them well
so that there is no water. You see here, what we find now
at the end of the season is pivot which is much smaller. I mean, in peak season,
it’s much bigger. You see? The difference? These are really the last ones.
When it’s like this. These are the
lowest-priced ones, let’s say. They become blacker, they
become more eel-like, more… You see? These, I think, are two years old already,
this elver. She changed color. We see that she is becoming an
eel now. The price of elvers is quite high,
indeed, since given the quantity of elvers,
of elvers, that we have in a kilo, once we make them fat,
this represents a very large volume of eels
which are sold even at 30 euros per kilo. This is huge, since when you count 2000
individuals in a kilo of glass eels, that makes 2000 eels. And 2000 eels, well, at 500 grams
each, you count, that’s huge, right? That’s a huge volume. This is what justifies the high price of the
It is true that we now favor repopulation more. There are more pubales caught
for restocking than for consumption. We release more, in fact, than we keep. Today, the
elver population is doing better. To preserve the species,
Europe has even banned exports to China and its ferocious appetite, which
caused prices to soar a few years ago. Stéphane thus sends
Florian’s elvers to grow in the rivers and streams of all Europe. To protect their know-how and their
beloved asparagus, the producers have obtained a GIp, Protected Geographical Indication. And it is with Daniel’s support that they
all work passionately to develop their product towards excellence. Impractical, that’s it. So there you go every day. We come by every day,
we collect about 300 kilos a day. 100 kilos per hectare.
All right. Well, after that, there is something close. Yes, yes, yes. Well, so in terms of quality,
you see, it’s okay. It’s pretty, yeah, they’ve grown. Because you know that at the beginning,
they were quite thin. Thinner.
Finally, thinner. And there, it’s true that we still have
the first category in the big ones. There are more, yes. Well, here it is, the investment. We realized that we had
a product of exceptional quality, with taste qualities,
taste characteristics that were truly different from other
asparagus production areas in France. Our Blayais asparagus
is an asparagus that still has a certain sweetness, and which is
very tender from head to heel. And that comes from our land. So, when we realize that we have our
own identity, well, we embark on a quality approach,
and on recognition of a terroir. And so, that’s what we did
by wanting to access the IGp Asperges du Blayais quality mark. There, 22.
It’s 22, 22. And 22, 22.
There, it’s 24. That, you took that there and then, there’s
the big one first. And then, that’s it. After that, it’s no longer 28. There you go. The beautiful GIp Asparagus. That’s superb.
Look at. The perfection of the end. Yes, that’s it. A tight point.
It could be anything like that. The product was already very good, but this is the taste of excellence. This is our slogan,
the taste for excellence. So we want to move towards that,
and we all make investments in each other to improve
the way we work, etc. And so, you see, we created
a common visual for all the producers. So that’s the complex. All GIp asparagus are dressed
with this packaging, with this visual. To differentiate them, in fact,
from violet and white, we have two complexes… Two different colors.
Two different colors. The Blayais region is steeped in a sweetness
that contributes to the reputation of these exceptional products. In this estuarine landscape,
between the river and the mainland, the artisans of a culture of character
remain attached to their heritage. Thus, with the rhythm of the seasons,
the asparagus will always come to pierce the black sand, announcing the arrival of spring,
while the elver fishing is coming to an end. A true postcard located across three
departments, the Pays d’Auge is the
most emblematic territory of Normandy. Its landscape is punctuated by apple trees
in bloom and half-timbered farms, in the middle of lush rolling pastures
where Normandy cows flourish. But the Pays d’Auge
is also the Côte Fleurie, the seafront that stretches
from Honfleur to Cabourg. Trouville is therefore the
region’s renowned fishing port. Around thirty boats provide
quality supplies every day. In the heart of the Pays d’Auge,
the town of Pont-l’Évêque. It is she who gave her
name to the eponymous cheese. At 30 years old, Caroline and Thierry Martin are
the third generation of producers from Pont-l’Évêque. In the 10th century, it was known
as Angelo and used as a sun. It also served as a means of
exchange and remuneration. It is so appreciated that a
Norman writer, Élie Le Cordier, dedicated a poem to it in 1622. It has no
unpleasant smell or fragrance. Of the others, he has no lighthouse. Everyone loves it too,
because it is made with such art that young or old, it is just cream. Another flagship product of the Pays d’Auge,
mackerel is a pelagic fish living in waters near the surface. The son of a fisherman, Anthony Bataille
has been passionate about fishing since he was little. At 19, he bought his first boat
and specialized in mackerel fishing. Renowned for its quality and freshness,
this coastal fish has long made Trouville-sur-Mer famous. It was at nightfall that Anthony
went fishing. Since the age of three,
this enthusiast has known the marshes. His father and uncle were
mackerel fishermen. When he goes out to sea,
part of the night is spent fishing on the ground and it is only in the
early morning that he and his team go fishing for mackerel using
a trawl. What I like about
mackerel fishing is the chase. Finding mackerel is hard enough,
but the hardest part is keeping it in the end,
following the school, the hunt. With the swamp, the fish
move, we already frighten it. It’s enough for us to be two or
three boats and we’ll pay them, so the hardest part is that they’ll
regroup at some point or another. But will it
regroup far away? Will it
gather in one place? That is the question. A question that will remain in
Anthony’s head for the entire time the net is at sea, which is on average two hours. This is what he calls the features. The net was then brought back on board
and Anthony was relieved to discover that it was full. You never really know
what you’re going to come up with. Often it’s the good surprise,
it’s the bad one. We believe, and we pull up
the net, and there’s nothing. And that’s very hard, very hard, well,
for me, anyway. And my guys know me, and I
even blame myself, it’s terrible, you know. So much passion to take
over, like any passionate person , that’s what it is in sport. If we fail to achieve
our goal, we are disappointed. And I show it often,
because I blame myself, you know. Once on deck, the mackerel
is immediately sorted by size. It is stored in six-kilogram crates
to avoid crushing the flesh until arrival at the port. Today the fishing is good. Anthony brings 1.5 tons
of mackerel back to Trouville. The tide only lasted 15 hours,
but Anthony sometimes stays at sea for up to 24 hours if he does
n’t have enough fish. Twenty years ago, we stayed home
if the weather was bad. Now we’re at the sea. We don’t ask ourselves that question anymore,
except on stormy days. Otherwise, we don’t even care about the weather anymore,
we go there, whatever happens. That’s because a lost day
lowers the average at the end of the year. We have to, now we talk on
Sunday and come back on Friday evening. It’s a tough job. As much as it can be good in a T-shirt,
super beautiful, it’s pleasant. Then there are times when
it’s bad weather, it’s not the same conditions at all. Danger starts to arrive
and the mood changes, you know. But it’s still passion. Passion is also
what drives Thierry. This 31-year-old farmer puts his herd out to
pasture as soon as the good weather returns. These cows can then flourish on 25
hectares and twice a day, he brings them back to the farm to be milked. There, it is a herd of 60 cows,
three quarters Norman, and then a quarter Norman crossbred primesteings. In Normandy, they do not produce as much
milk as primesteings, but they have more fat
and protein for production for the bishop, among others. And then, as we have always been
in Normandy, I kept this breed which is well suited to our farm. The fat content of cows
depends on their diet. When they are in pasture,
they feed on grasses found in natural meadows,
alongside dandelions and clover. Thierry supplements their ration with hay
and corn, but it is always at this time of year that the milk is at its best,
and therefore the cheese too. Over there, it’s their food,
they’re the ones who give us milk. So, if we work badly upstream,
we could come back and work behind it too. For the Martins, milk
and cheese production is a family affair. Thierry’s grandparents began
making cheese to enhance the value of their milk in the 1950s. His father took over and
passed on his expertise to him. It was obvious
to take over. I couldn’t see myself doing anything else. Since I was little,
I started driving, I don’t do the pedals, the tractor. Afterwards, we do this job out of passion. Because it’s still
hours, it’s still work. It’s becoming more and more restrictive
in terms of work. We are also asked a lot
in terms of controls. It’s like everything. You have to do it out of passion,
not out of duty. Being his own boss and in touch
with nature is what Thierry enjoys, and he
in turn passes on his expertise to Basile, a 20-year-old apprentice. What is also interesting about
maintenance is having interns
or apprentices and seeing that there are still young people
who are passionate about our profession. Given the current prices
of milk, meat, and the economic situation, this is demoralizing more than one person. I hope there will be better days. We value it with
milk, with cheese. We are happy to see the work completed. But after that, if we really
only made milk, I don’t know at the moment if I would still settle down
, despite the passion. The evening milking goes to the dairy,
while the morning milking is reserved for making cheese. Anthony battles at Costes-à-Trouville,
the first Norman port for landing mackerel. As soon as it arrives, the fish
is immediately unloaded. There, 1.2 tonnes or
so of mackerel. It was quick. Two strokes, then we went home. An 800 and then a 400. But that’s often the case on Fridays, so you
shouldn’t fish too hard. We must keep the lessons. Keeping the lessons going
is the main concern of Anthony and his mareilleur,
Henri Kenet, with whom he has worked for 25 years. At each tide, they are
in contact by telephone. The fishmonger informs Anthony of the
selling price of the mackerel and the quantity of fish to bring back. We had a good week finding
fish every day without overdoing it. Then there you go, the fisherman is the one who
always knows what we’re fishing for. If there is a need for two tons,
I bring back two tons. If there’s a need for a ton,
I’ll bring a ton. Then, there are no times when we don’t
fish. This is how we
manage quality and price. The fishmonger wants quality
and I want the price. So by combining the two,
we can save the weeks. That’s the main thing.
He tells me that he is fishing. I see for myself
what I am selling, the price. And then we call each other regularly to see
if we need less, if we need more. If it’s not working, it’s not
always that easy, but… We prefer to limit ourselves if it’s not… If no one is making money,
after a while, we stop. Even if it means letting a day,
two days, a week go by if necessary, and then starting again when the time is right. Generally, mackerel frequents the
Normandy coasts from spring to autumn. This is the
best time to fish it. But in March, competition
from the Spanish caused prices to fall. At the moment, we have competition with
the Spanish, where even sometimes on its gendluse, for example,
we stay on all the Spanish, it’s because they have a size
of fish that we don’t have. And as we wait, the bigger the fish
, the more it sells. We manage to hold on a little with the quality. The freshness of: We come in,
we deliver, it leaves. It’s icy.
And the next day, it’s on the plates. That’s a bit of an advantage we have. It’s our way of working
that saves us the day. A good mackerel weighs about 200
grams, and the one from Trouville reaches up to 30 centimeters. Anthony always keeps a crate of large
mackerel for his wife Karine, who opened a fish market
in Saint-Arnou, near Trouville. How are you ? That’s some fine mackerel. The fishmonger also serves as a restaurant,
and Karine, assisted by her chef, Frédéric, transforms mackerel into rillettes. We look at the very
red gills, and then the eyes. So. It has to be brilliant. That’s a nice mackerel.
We take the nets. There, he ate well, he is very fat. There
are not many bones in mackerel. You have to know where they are. So there are the central bones
and we lift the fillet by removing the skin. We have two types of rillettes,
salmon rillettes and mackerel rillettes. Mackerel rillettes are the
most popular. Once the nets are raised,
Frédéric takes over. Karine and he developed
this recipe together. Today it is the star
of their fish market. There we will cook them. We will make an aromatic garnish with
onions, carrots, bay leaf. It is one of the best fish.
He has everything he needs. Omega 3 is great for your health. A little coarse salt,
a little white wine, then water and cook for 5 or 6 minutes. 5 minutes later, the mackerel flesh
has become tender and fragrant, perfect for rillettes. We collect our mackerel threads. We crumble, but coarsely. Add a good tablespoon of
old-fashioned mustard and some pickles. We take some crème fraîche.
Mix well. The fishmonger, a rillette,
that takes two hours. Very, very popular. And there you have it. And there you have it, mackerel rillettes
to eat with toast. This is the best.
There is no photo. The rillettes are ready to be enjoyed
and are a great hit with customers. So, rillettes of…
Mackerel rillettes. Like that ?
Yes, yes, that’s good. It’s truly delicious,
it’s not ordinary. It has nothing to do with
canned mackerel rillettes. It’s really a homemade preparation. Besides, Frédéric does
not give away his secret. There is a secret, we don’t have it. Mackerel rillettes
are addictive. It’s really… I never run out
of mackerel rillettes. At the Martins’ house, it is Caroline,
Thierry’s wife, who takes care of the construction of the Pont L’Évêque. After the morning milking,
the milk is curdled and will change from liquid to solid. After an hour and a half of maturation,
the milk has turned into curd. Guillaume, the intern,
will slice it by hand before removing it to mold it. So, we see here again
that the curd evolves. So there, we see that he
makes small pieces. And there it separates from the whey. It’s much thicker and
makes bigger chunks. So there, it will start to be
good to put in the mold, in fact. Caroline moved into
the cheese dairy six months ago, with the aim of taking over from Thierry’s parents. Usually, they
are the ones who teach him the essential gestures for making
Pont-L’évêque, but this week, they are on vacation. So it’s Thierry who gives
his wife a helping hand. We recognize a jar by its texture. There, we don’t see that it’s
liquid like before. It gets very grainy
and in place. Afterwards, it will finish
draining into the molds. So, we pack it down well to avoid any
holes. Let it have a nice square shape. This one seems a little
less busy, doesn’t it? Yes, there is some atoserum
going off. At the end of manufacturing,
the Lévêque Bridges are returned. After two days,
each cheese is salted on all sides, which allows it to
preserve, to form its crust, but also to develop its
aromatic palette, even if salt is not the only taste factor. The Pont Lévêques has a special flavor
because there is a certain atmosphere in every part of the
Pont-l’Évêque manufacturing process . There are certain bacteria that
give the typical taste of Pont L’évêque. There, it’s true that the cows are on the grass. This gave
the cheese a much more yellow color. Taste-wise,
it’s going to taste better too. A summer cheese, summer cheese
will have more flavor than winter cheese. The cheeses are turned
daily before being placed in the cold room. This allows the cheese to dry
evenly, to be aerated, in fact. I originally
studied business. I recently worked
in a chocolate factory. And so my in-laws
are approaching retirement. So the goal
is to be able to take over in order to perpetuate this
know-how and to be able to maintain cheese production. Besides the know-how,
it is also a name that the Martins have passed on to their children. Because Pont-L’évêque Martin is very
famous in the Pays d’Auge and has won several competitions. Thierry and Caroline sell it directly
from the farm, to delicatessens or to restaurants. 5 minutes from the family farm,
Audrey and Laurent transform cheese in their restaurant, which is very
popular with local customers. Here, I will present to you
the recipe for Demi-Martin. We did it because we started We’re going to
make a half-bridge, a breaded Pont-l’Évêque as a starter which works very well. So we decided to serve it as a main course with
a small plate of local charcuterie on the side. As its name suggests,
we take a whole Pont-l’Évêque and cut it in half lengthwise
to keep the crust. Then we add
a little bit of cider. Cider adds flavor. And then, once the Pont-l’Évêque
goes into the oven and melts, it then soaks up the cider at the bottom. Under the greedy eyes of her family,
the first fans of demi-Martin, Audrey then adds pepper
and homemade breadcrumbs. What I really like
about Pont-L’évêque Martin is its taste, because it is
very fragrant, not too strong. It has a very pretty color. Unlike the other Pont-l’évêques,
it is very pinkish, orange, while the others are very pale and very clear. Customers
really appreciate this recipe. They like the crunchiness and
softness of Pont-l’évêques. The preparation is then placed in the oven
where the cheese will melt gently. When the top is golden brown,
the breadcrumbs become very crispy and it sparkles in your mouth. Ten minutes later,
the half-martin is ready. What is already needed is for it to be well
melted so that there is no firmness in the cheese
and so that it can also soak up the cider
that we put underneath. And then the crust should
be golden brown so that the crispness can be felt. And it’s Luc, the son of Audrey and Laurent,
who is the first to enjoy the crispy half-martin. What I like about the demi-martin
is the softness, the threads. We just made the cheese. For me, the aroma is delicious. That evening, Anthony returns from a new
It’s as it sometimes happens, they find Dominique Lamor at the landing. It’s rather beautiful too. Even less beautiful than Monday.
It’s Monday. It’s not bad. The Normandy caletist, Frécheur Mère,
the quality brand for fishing in Lower Normandy, controls
the arrival of mackerel. Mackerel
cannot stand mediocrity. It has to be super fresh. And how do you recognize freshness? Already, it is shiny, it is shiny. It’s colorful, it’s arched. So this is super fresh mackerel,
characteristic of very great freshness. One of the main guarantees
of mackerel freshness comes from the speed of storage,
but also from the fact that there is very little intermediary between the producer
and the consumer. So, there you go, Anthony,
he arrived straight away and in the workshop, they
are already icing. We have a product that will be frozen
immediately, shipped in part this evening, and tomorrow at noon,
well, people will be able to enjoy it. This one’s big. Yeah, that’s big mackerel,
beautiful mackerel. The quality of mackerel
depends first of all on the men, and well, it depends first of all on the fisherman. And in Trouville, Trouville,
for years, we can say that it’s historic, it’s cultural. There is a deep knowledge
of fish and how to catch it, and then preserve
and ship it. In addition, fishermen practice
artisanal fishing that respects the resource. This will contribute to the reputation
of Trouville mackerel and reassure consumers. We see that there is a total lack of knowledge about
seafood products, or rather, a very strong lack of knowledge about seafood products
on the part of consumers. The time has passed when people
ate anything and everything at the lowest price. Now, there is a desire for quality,
even if we have always had it at the consumer level, but also a desire
for information, a desire to guarantee traceability. People like to know where it’s
caught, how it’s caught, almost who caught it, and above all to
be reassured about where the fish comes from. This approach also allows us to inform
consumers about the origin of their mackerel and the guarantees we
provide through the labelling of Trouville mackerel.
Plus, there is the specialist. No, no, no, not the specialist. I think you did pretty well
today, though. We were trying.
Yeah. Every year since 1995,
mother camp meetings have been held, the aim of which is
to promote the AOP and AOC of Normandy, in particular. For the first time,
Caroline replaces her mother-in-law and offers her Pont L’évêque for sale. Du Pont L’évêque, raw milk farmer. So, we produce milk on the farm and we
process part of our
milk production daily in Pont L’évêque. This allows us to make ourselves known
to certain customers who are still discovering us today. It also allows you to discover regional products, AOP and AOC products. This
AOP market offers a prime place for Pont-l’Évêque, alongside
other regional products. Since the 19th century,
the reputation of this cheese has spread beyond the borders of Normandy to be found
on tables throughout France. Charles de Paris is the president
of the Normandy Dairy ODG Management Association. This union sets up
specifications and is responsible for promoting Norman products and local produce. But Charles de Paris deplores the lack
of producers in Pont-l’Évêque. It is still a product that has tended
to decrease in volume for several years. But it is prized because in fact,
those who really know it know that it is exceptional and that a product
like Pont-L’évêque, when eaten at room temperature
or even cooked, it releases aromas, that there are no other cheeses
that release these aromas. So, you really have to be initiated
to truly appreciate Pont-L’Évêque. But it is a product to be rediscovered. They’re not going to be too fussed about it.
Yes, we have tanks. They are exceptional.
8-10 days approximately. How many days do you keep it for?
Not in sub-winter. No, there you go, you leave it with your
father in a cool room. THANKS. For him, it is very important to have
a showcase like the Cambremer meetings to promote
products such as Pont-L’Évêque. It is another economic approach. It must be an act of militancy to
buy products with a designation of origin. That’s
it for us. And it maintains employment
in areas that are often left behind,
while designations of origin are things that cannot be relocated. And it’s important that society
knows this because it maintains activity. It’s autonomy,
quality, in rural areas. The success of these Cambremer meetings
demonstrates that consumers today are looking for authenticity,
freshness and quality in the products they buy. The Pont Lévêque and the Macro de Trouville
stand out in this approach by using artisanal methods
and know-how passed down from generation to generation. Between land and sea, Anthony,
Caroline and Thierry contribute to the reputation of these original products.

🐟 Entre marais, genièvre et traditions du Nord : un terroir insoupçonné à découvrir ! 🌿🧀

Amoureux de la France et du patrimoine, ses trésors n’auront plus de secrets pour vous 👉 https://youtu.be/nf_JAanUnL0

Dans l’Audomarois, aux confins du Pas-de-Calais, un territoire singulier se dévoile : un entrelacs de marais, de canaux paisibles, de traditions rurales et de produits d’exception.

🌱 À Tilques, Véronique perpétue la culture du creux de fontaine, un cresson rare, semi-aquatique, cultivé sans engrais dans des bassins nourris par des sources naturelles.
🍸 À Houlle, Lionel redonne ses lettres de noblesse à la genièvre, une eau-de-vie de céréales aux arômes subtils, vieillie en fûts de chêne dans l’une des dernières distilleries familiales du Nord.
🧺 Sur les marchés, le cresson croquant, les asperges du Blay, et les confitures de bistouille témoignent d’un terroir vivant et solidaire.
🐟 À Trouville, Anthony part en mer pour pêcher le maquereau, dans la tradition familiale, entre respect des cycles marins et quête de fraîcheur ultime.
🧀 Et à Pont-l’Évêque, la famille Martin élabore un fromage AOP à la robe orangée, transmis de génération en génération, véritable fleuron du patrimoine laitier normand.

✨ Une immersion entre marais classés par l’UNESCO, gestes ancestraux et passion familiale, où nature et gastronomie tissent une histoire commune.

📌 Un voyage sensoriel entre creux de fontaine, genièvre de Houlle, asperges du Blay, civelles, maquereau et Pont-l’Évêque.

#CreuxDeFontaine #Cresson #GenièvreDeHoulle #AspergeDuBlay #MaquereauDeTrouville #PontLEvêque #ProduitsDuNord #PatrimoineVivant #FranceGourmande #DocumentaireFrance #TerroirsGourmands #TrésorsDuPatrimoine

Épicerie Fine – Terroirs Gourmands (Saison 7) :
E07 – Genévrier et cresson de l’Audomarois
E08 – Civelle et asperge du Blayais
E12 – Maquereau et Pont-l’Évêque du Pays d’Auge

© Tout droits réservés – AMP
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