Food, drinks and local culture in Lower Normandy

Like every regions of France, Normandy has its own distinctive cuisine and trademark ingredients. Apart from being blessed with seafood from the many fishing ports along the coast, the dairy farms productions are famous for their cream, cheese, butter, but as well for apples, pears, garden produce, duck, veal...

Cream from cows fed in the rich Normandy pastures is simply fabulous and is the main reason why Norman butter is better than anywhere else. Cream also features heavily in traditional Normandy cuisine - sauce Norman is a simple white cream sauce but better than any other cream sauce in France. The kings of the local cheeses are undoubtedly Pont l'Eveque site, Livarot site and Camembert site, each with its own special area of production.

Then, there are ciders, calvados, benedictine site, perry and pommeau. Calvados is a apple brandy. During a rich meal, a 'trou normand', a tot of calvados taken between two courses to aid digestion before going on with another coursel, is served, sometimes with an apple sorbet doused with calvados. Benedictine is a liqueur invented by the monks of the Fécamp Abbey - Perry is pear cider, while pommeau site is a mix of 65% apple juice and 35% calvados aged in oak barrels. It is served as a chilled aperitif or at room temperature to accompany foie gras, melon or dessert.

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