Bretagne Cuisine

Bretagne (Brittany) is a North-Western region of France, situated on the border of its country and directly opposite Britain, separated of course by the English Channel.
Because of Bretagne's proximity to the sea, the majority of its fresh produce originates from the ocean. Sea creatures such as oysters, mackerel and sardines are found in an abundance and are used in a number of famous Bretagne dishes, particularly Cotriade, a fish stew which specializes specifically in Bretagne.

Bretagne is particularly noted for its cultivation of buckwheat and its usage in mainly dessert dishes. The Bretagne crepes are famous for their fundamental ingredient being buckwheat flour. These types of crepes are known as 'galletes' or 'gallete de ble noir's and are recognized as one of Bretagne's notable dishes; they can be layered with anything ranging from sweet sugar and fruit, to savory Bretagne pork sausages.

The fundamental cheeses of this region are Emmental and Raclette. They are both a Swiss influenced cheese and are rather a largely manufactured cheese in Bretagne, than a native produce. Emmental is a firm yellow product, notable for the cheese bubbles or holes which occur as a result of CO2 not leaving the cheese during production. Raclette is made from cow's milk and is reasonably firm, used predominantly for melting. Raclette is interesting also as it not only refers to the cheese, but a famous French and Swiss dish which consists of mainly Raclette cheese and potatoes...

There is no notable wine of Bretagne, as it is a region better known for its production of beer and cider. Bretagne is the 2nd largest cider-producing region in France, and was once a well known site of brewing, serving a number of traditional beers known to Bretagne. Bretagne is famous for its production of chouchen, which is a honey-based alcoholic beverage.

Some notable recipes associated with Bretagne are:

Brittany Fish Stew (Cotriade)

serves:- 6-8, preparation time:- 10-15 mins, cooking time:- 30-35 mins,

Ingredients

* 1.5 kg of conger eel, cut into 1 inch slices
* 500g of bass, gutted, washed and cut into 3 inch chunks
* 1.5kg of wrasse, gutted, washed and cut into 3 pieces
* 500g of mackerel, gutted, washed and cut into 3 pieces
* 500g of whitting, gutted, washed and cut into 3 pieces
* 500g of sardines, gutted and washed
* 200g of butter
* 3 large onions, 1 stuck with 2 cloves and the other 2 chopped
* 2kg of peeled potatoes
* 1 bouquet garni (thyme, bayleaf, parsley)
* salt and pepper
* croutons.

Galettes de Sarrasin

• ½ cup buckwheat flour
• ½ cup all purpose flour
• ½ cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp water
  
  

Whisk all ingredients together and let rest for an hour. Heat a non-stick 8 inch pan. Pour 3 to 4 tbsp of batter into the heated pan while tilting to spread the batter over the bottom of the pan. Turn the crepe over when the edges are dry and crispy and cook for just a few more seconds before taking it out of the pan.
To make the galette saucisse, spread the hot crepe with mustard and wrap around your favourite sausage.

REFERENCES:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brittany

http://us.franceguide.com/what-to-do/wine-and-cuisine/Discover-the-cuisine-of-Brittany.html?NodeID=119&EditoID=181546