If you've ever wondered what to eat and drink when visiting Brittany in France, then this will be the most useful article you'll ever read. And yes, that's a big statement, but we are fully convinced of it.
The beautiful region of Brittany has plenty of good food to offer, in our opinion, it is one of the best cuisines in France! I hope you like sugar because the Bretons use a lot of it as you will see with all their pastries and sweets! But if you are more salty food, don't worry you will find your happiness too!
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🍻 Drinks
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Salty
Galette Bretonne
Following the salty dishes path, what you absolutely must try is the Galette Bretonne. Otherwise, you are not a true Breton! Now you will say to us: “but they are the same as crepes!”. Well, they are similar, but the Galette Bretonne is made from buckwheat flour and is salty. While your crepe dought is cooking, you add the food of your choice as a topping (the most basic but delicious one that you will find everywhere is the one with ham and grated cheese). Don’t you want to try it? If the answer is positive (and we hope so!), you could find it in every restaurant in the cities of Brittany, but if you wish to have a tasty traditional lunch, go for Galette Bretonne, you won't regret it.
Oysters
We want to mention oysters, which is a famous dish from the Brittany region because you will find oyster farms all over the region! Something to make the locals proud! Do you know that they represent a healthy natural product, full of essential nutrients? So, you don't have to worry about your diet (and save your extra calories allowance for desserts that aren't as healthy)! Remember, you are savoring a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage, so go taste them.
Others sea products
To continue with sea products in general, Britanny being on the Atlantic coast is a specialist in products from the sea. Crab, lobster, langoustine, scallops from Saint Brieuc, will flood your plates. Dishes such as Cotriade which is a fish stew specialty.
If you are a seafood lover, voilà a tip: if you pass by Brest go to the restaurant Crabe Marteau, you'll find great crabs and lobsters! And you'll be matching the restaurant wearing bibs with the restaurant logo.
Other salty dishes
However, if you belong to the “only meat products, please!” category, typical Breton dishes are the Kig-ha-farz and the Andouille de Géméné. In this way now, you can be pleased too.
Sweet
The final touch to an excellent meal is obviously the dessert. Honestly, we would like to suggest some sweets that you can taste at any time of the day:
Crêpes dentelle
We all know the delicious French crêpe that we eat with Nutella, sugar... Although very famous in Brittany (and we advise you to have some!), we are going to talk to you about its little sister, the lace crêpe. Invented by accident while making a crepe that Marie-Catherine Cornic had left cooking for too long, she decided to fold it. When she tasted it, she discovered a new kind of crunchy and delicious crepe! Gavotte is the main brand of crêpes dentelles. It can be consumed as a cookie or crumbled with ice cream, coffee, or any other dessert. The box of classical crepes dentelles will cost around 2 euros in France, and we're sure you won't come home with just a box!
The Niniches
Do you have the Peter Pan syndrome, and would you like to be a child again, like us? Well, we suggest trying the bonbons most loved by Bretons, the Niniches. They are fruits and caramel lollipops, and their recipe is considered a French culinary heritage. So, they deserve to be tasted!
Caramel au beurre salé
Moreover, if you love caramel l as much as we do, you will surely like salted butter caramel this soft caramel is a specialty that you will find in different textures, whether it is in candy, in a spread…By the way, our little tip is that when you take a sweet crepe, choose salted butter caramel as a topping, a real delight!
Kouign Amman
The kouign amman which translates from Breton as "kouign" cake and "amman" butter, is as you understand a cake with lots of butter! If you are not afraid of a high-calorie cake or of doing a sports session afterward, try it, because it is worth it, it is delicious and typical of the region!
Palets bretons
Combining caramel and butter, a dessert worth trying is Palets Breton (which the name comes from the shuffleboard game), even they are simple butter crunchy biscuits. The main ingredient is semi-salted butter from the region of Brittany. The tasty cookies are very easy to cook, which makes them the perfect snack to enjoy afternoon coffee with. You can find a lot of variations of Palets Breton with yolk cream, chocolate, or fruits on the top.
Other sweet foods
You will also find as a good local dessert the Breton cake and the Far Breton, two cakes as good as each other! The Breton cake is similar to the palet Breton, while the Far Breton, a recipe just as simple to make, is traditionally cooked with prunes, but you can now find it with red fruits, chocolate...
Drinks
Eating is nice, but let's get down to business, what to drink during a meal or an aperitif? Here are three typical drinks from Brittany:
Cider
There is no region in France without a typical drink. Cider is one of the most popular beverages of Brittany. It is also a specialty in Normandy. An interesting fact about the cider is that you can find where it was produced from the color of the drink. The color varies from yellow to brown, the ones with lighter colors are from the east part of the region (main city Saint-Malo). The cider with darker color is mostly produced in the west part with main city Brest. The reason is the apples from the area.
Couchen
Couchen is a wine considered to be amber and is made by fermenting honey in apple juice. Our advice is to drink it fresh and with melon during your aperitif, something to delight your guests!
Godinette
You're in Brittany and want to go for a drink at the bar while staying local? Try La Godinette! A typical Breton cocktail with cider brandy and strawberries.
Now that Breton cuisine no longer holds any secrets for you, come and learn more about Saint-Malo by discovering the best things to see and do there!
Don't hesitate to tell us a place you would like to read about! Never stop exploring beautiful places and check our other articles. And don't forget to follow our Instagram @thewalkingparrot, to stay alert for the next articles!
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