Acquired taste specialities
Andouille
There is a local saying:
Chez le Breton, comme chez le cochon, tout est bon!
[Like the pig, everything about the Breton (native of Brittany) is good!]
They aren’t kidding - everything except the bones of the pig are used for food, a lot of it good, but some of it a real eye opener. In the case of andouille, it is an eye waterer too - the smell of it is so strong that it can make your eyes water. It tastes like a farmyard. But then some people like that. The reputedly best andouille is the ‘Andouille de Vire - le vrai Andouille‘ - the entire pig’s stomach and intestine is moulded into a long, thin parcel, salted, then soaked for several days, then smoked using beech wood for a month. After this, it is de-salinated, put in another intestine and boiled for 6 hours. The result is an andouille - approximately 25 - 30cms length and 4 - 6 cms thick. The good thing is that there is no fat in it, unlike normal sausages. The bad thing - well, let’s just say if you don’t have a sense of smell, you will probably enjoy it.