🥖 Rillettes de Tours and rillons: local treasures

La fouée : Where does this Touraine speciality come from?

Take a step back in time to the Middle Ages, when the bakers of Touraine were already making these very special bread rolls. Rabelais himself praised them in his novel Gargantua, contributing to their growing renown in the 16th century.

Born in the ancestral wood-fired ovens of the Loire Valley, the fouée was originally used as a test to check the correct temperature before baking the bread. The dough pieces, flattened in the palm of the hand, would reveal by their doneness whether it was time to put them in the oven. A baker’s trick that today has become one of the tastiest traditions of western France.

Through the centuries, this simple recipe of flour, yeast and a pinch of salt has been passed down from generation to generation, making the fouée a gourmet symbol of our terroir.

The authentic recipe for fouée pastry

Plunge your hands into the flour and get ready to create these puffy little wonders. Mix 500g flour with 20g fresh yeast diluted in 30cl warm water. Add a pinch of salt and knead until you have a soft, smooth dough.

Let your dough rest for 2 hours under a tea towel, away from draughts. Then shape into small 60g balls and gently flatten. The secret? A wood-burning oven for a lightning-fast 4-minute cooking time. Your fouées should puff up as if by magic, remaining quite pale to keep their softness.

The best fouée restaurants

A warm atmosphere in the troglodytic cellars of Amboise: La Cave aux Fouées welcomes you to a unique setting where the wood-fired oven crackles constantly. The fouées are prepared before your very eyes, topped with local specialities such as mature Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine.

Just a stone’s throw from the Château de Chinon, Chez Dédé La Boulange carries on the tradition with mastery. Savour its soft fouées accompanied by a glass of local red wine in an authentic setting that gives pride of place to local produce.

The Vallée troglodytique des Goupillières also offers you an unforgettable gourmet break. At this historic site, fouées bake as they did in days gone by in the period oven, an experience that delights the taste buds as much as the imagination.

What toppings for your fouées?

Warm and fluffy, your fouées are just waiting to be topped! Start with the Touraine classics: the melt-in-your-mouth Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine or the artisan rillettes for which our region is famous. For a touch of the forest, slip in creamy mushrooms with garlic, prepared according to local tradition.

Let yourself be tempted by more daring combinations: a pan of buttered mogettes, golden lardons or onions preserved in Loire wine. Those with a sweet tooth will even dare to try a sweet version with a Rivarennes tapered pear jam.

Place your garnishes on the table and create your own feast! With friends or family, the meal becomes a moment of sharing where everyone composes their fouée according to their desires.

The art of tasting fouaces

Fouaces are brioche buns filled with walnuts. And in the end, it’s understandable that we’d fight over them because they’re so good! Make up your own mind, by stopping off at the “Le Fournil du Château” bakery, for example, not far from the royal fortress of Chinon, or at the boulangerie Briquet, in Lignières de Touraine.

Tap your still-steaming fouace and observe its beautiful golden colour. Gently open it in half, like a soft little cushion. For optimal tasting, fill it without delay: the warmth of the bread will reveal all the aromas of your ingredients.

Bite into your creation to the full to appreciate the contrast between the thin crust and the steamy crumb. A connoisseur’s tip: accompany this feast with a glass of Touraine rouge for savoury versions, or a sparkling Vouvray that sublimates sweet fouaces.

Enjoy this unique moment when the fouace, fresh from the oven, releases its artisanally baked flavours. An authentic experience that awakens all your senses!

For the anecdote: François Rabelais, in Gargantua (1534), starts the Picrocholine Wars with a pitched battle between the fouaciers of Lerné and the shepherds of Grandgousier.

How to store and reheat your fouées?

To enjoy your fouées just as they came out of the oven, here are our storage secrets. Store them in a paper bag at room temperature to enjoy within 24 hours. Beyond that, the freezer becomes your ally: wrap them carefully in cling film.

The magic happens when it’s time to reheat. Preheat your oven to 200°C and let your fouées come to life for 2 to 3 minutes. For added convenience, the toaster offers an ideal alternative for small quantities. Avoid the microwave, which will make them rubbery.

A baker’s tip: place a small container of water in the oven while reheating. The steam will restore your fouées to their original softness, as if they had just come out of your Touraine baker’s oven.

Rillettes from Tours

This dish, made famous by a Sarthoise brand, actually originated in Tours, in the 15th century. Unlike more southerly territories, it was difficult to make dried charcuterie, with a view to extending shelf life. To overcome this difficulty, the practice of preserving pork in fat gradually spread to the banks of the Loire.

Note, moreover, that les rillettes de Tours differ from their Le Mans counterparts in that less fat is used, and the pieces are slightly larger. As we regularly hear on some famous cookery shows, there’s some “mâche”! The colour of Tours rillettes is therefore logically a little darker, brown. Since 2013, they have benefited from a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). You’re bound to find them in local charcuteries such as Maison Hardouin, but also in grocery shops and supermarkets.

In the same aisle, you’re also likely to come across rillons, pieces of pork belly, caramelised by gentle, slow cooking. Some Vouvray wine should also be incorporated into the preparation: an ingredient that couldn’t be more local!

@tourainevaldeloire 💡Did you know?💡 It was indeed Touraine that invented rillettes! In fact, there are written records dating back to the 15th century. 👉🏼C It was Rabelais, born in Chinon, who mentioned them in his works “cette brune confiture de cochon” (this brown pig jam) or “je vous enverrai du rille en votre maison et serai toujours votre ami” (I’ll send you some rillettes to your house and I’ll always be your friend). What’s more, Tours rillettes are protected by a PGI and therefore very precise specifications, a guarantee of quality and local artisan production!🐷 #Tours #rillettes #rillettesdumans #pig #gastronomie #artisanatfrançais #culinaire #lemans #valdeloire #touraine #fyp #apero #toursmaville #tours37 #loirevalley ♬ its original – Eyemazy France 👀

Discover the Touraine vineyards and wine tourism!

Extend your gastronomic experience by visiting the Touraine vineyards! Between Vouvray, Chinon, Montlouis-sur-Loire and many others, our terroirs invite you to taste exceptional wines and enjoy unique wine tourism experiences. Cellar visits, tastings, meetings with winegrowers… Let us guide you to the heart of an authentic winegrowing heritage.