Thursday 20 February 2020

The Saffron Fair 2020


The Saffron Fair in Preuilly is an annual gourmet food fair that has been going for more than twenty years. It is held in municipal gymnasium. Here are some photos I took this year.

Basket weaver.
Basket weaver at the Saffron Fair, Preuilly sur Claise.  Indre et Loire, France. Photographed by Susan Walter. Tour the Loire Valley with a classic car and a private guide.
These are made of rushes and brambles. I have one of the long ones for bread.

Products from Cognac.
Products from Cognac at the Saffron Fair, Preuilly sur Claise.  Indre et Loire, France. Photographed by Susan Walter. Tour the Loire Valley with a classic car and a private guide.
Cognac itself of course, but also liqueurs and pineau de Charentes.

A new gastronomic club.
Confrerie Gastronomique at the Saffron Fair, Preuilly sur Claise.  Indre et Loire, France. Photographed by Susan Walter. Tour the Loire Valley with a classic car and a private guide.
Gastronomic clubs like this exist all over France and usually concentrate on a single dish. This one has created a chocolate based on the shape of a well known local prehistoric tool.

Touraine Noble Joué rosé.
Joue Noble rose, a tiny wine appellation in the Loire Valley.  Indre et Loire, France. Photographed by Susan Walter. Tour the Loire Valley with a classic car and a private guide.
Touraine Noble Joué is a tiny rosé wine appellation of just five producers and forty hectares of vines. It is generally rather highly rated, but almost unknown outside our area.

The restaurant area.
Restaurant area at the Saffron Fair, Preuilly sur Claise.  Indre et Loire, France. Photographed by Susan Walter. Tour the Loire Valley with a classic car and a private guide.
We ate here with friends, as usual. Excellent value for money, and the main course and dessert in particular were really good and enjoyed by all. All with a hint of saffron of course.

Dry cured sausage (saucisson) for sale.
Dry cured sausages (aka saucisson or salami) on sale at a gourmet market.  Indre et Loire, France. Photographed by Susan Walter. Tour the Loire Valley with a classic car and a private guide.

Spice merchant.
Spice merchant at a gourmet market.  Indre et Loire, France. Photographed by Susan Walter. Tour the Loire Valley with a classic car and a private guide.
I buy vanilla pods every year from the spice merchant. The quality is excellent and they are good value compared to the supermarket, especially if you buy in quantity. This year I also bought paprika and allspice berries.

In the background, local artist Olivier Lorain (aka Lolo) is sketching and manning the stand for the artists' group he set up and continues to run with weekly meetings for drawing and painting together.

Gourmet groceries.
Gourmet grocer stall at a food market.  Indre et Loire, France. Photographed by Susan Walter. Tour the Loire Valley with a classic car and a private guide.
My friend Sylvain runs a gourmet grocery business selling local produce. He sells at markets and delivers orders made over the phone to your home.

Chef Jean-Michel Chedozeau leads the team preparing the lunch menu he's created for the Fair.
Prepping the meal at the Saffron Fair, Preuilly sur Claise.  Indre et Loire, France. Photographed by Susan Walter. Tour the Loire Valley with a classic car and a private guide.

Main course of sturgeon with herbed mashed potato and carrot saffron sauce.
Main course of sturgeon with herbed mashed potato and carrot saffron sauce.  Indre et Loire, France. Photographed by Susan Walter. Tour the Loire Valley with a classic car and a private guide.


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3 comments:

Le Pré de la Forge said...

The lovers of the Light Purple Cushion of Love are not new.... they come from Grand Pressigny and organise my birthday wine fair... I believe they pre-date the Second World War!!
As can be seed by the age of some of their members!!!!

The "Livre-du-Beurre" chocolates with a ganache filling were started by one of the Grand Pressigny boulangers and are available all year round from the shop.
Somewhat sickly.... to my taste.

Le Pré de la Forge said...

Basically, they are just a load of winos!
The chocolate is just a money getter... it isn't the reason for their existance.

Susan said...

Ah! I thought they must be new because they've been getting a load of publicity lately.

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