Touraine’s markets and local produce
Mother Nature has done a great job: its mild climate and fertile soil have made Touraine a generous land, producing an abundance of fruit and vegetables as well as rare products such as black truffles and saffron, which can be found on our appetizing market stalls.
The flavours of Touraine in the Loire valley
5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day? No problem, we have everything we need… apples, asparagus, melons, lettuce and even poires tapées, or beaten pears, a speciality of the village of Rivarennes (the pears are dried then flattened out using a tool called a ‘platissoire’, the aim being to improve the drying process in order to preserve them). And what about truffles and saffron?!
There is also the delicious local charcuterie, including the succulent rillettes de Tours (given Protected Designation of Origin status, no less), rillons and andouillettes, which go well with the vintage wines. Over a dozen AOC wines are to be discovered including Vouvray, Chinon, Bourgueil and Montlouis-sur-Loire.
Cheeses
Rillons et Rillettes
As for cheese, the Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine, easily identified by the straw running through it, is the local star among a range of goats’ cheeses which also includes the delicious Valençay pyramids. And for dessert? Well, that’s easy – if you love candied fruit, you can indulge yourself with some Tours nougat cake. Or maybea a… tarte vigneronne?
A trip to the market
If you don’t have the time to go to the market back at home, you can make up for it during the holidays! There are plenty of weekly markets, the largest being in Tours, Amboise, Loches, Langeais and Chinon, which sell fresh, locally sourced produce at very reasonable prices.
There’s also a 100% organic market on Saturday mornings in Rochecorbon, and a flower market on Wednesdays and Saturdays in Tours. Evening gourmet markets are also held more or less everywhere in summer.
