In Morbihan, we don’t have oil, but another black gold: the bouchot mussel from Penestin. This one obtained, mid-October, a nice recognition, here it is registered in the intangible cultural heritage of France by the Ministry of Culture. In the same way as the fest-noz, the oysters of Cancale or the manufacture of bombards, to name only a few examples (Breton).
“We have already been recognized as a“ remarkable taste site ”since 2013, a label that associates a product with a terroir. This national federation felt that it was possible to obtain registration as an intangible heritage ”, relates Pascal Métayer, president of the Brotherhood of Pénestin corkscrews. The latter worked for two years, alongside the federation, local mussel growers, the town hall, the tourist offices of Cap Atlantique to gain recognition. “That we have a great product. The finest quality mussels in France ”, smiles Pascal Métayer.
In the landscape
With her golden skin, plump, and spending her life in the stake (the famous bouchot), the miss had indeed good arguments to make. The ministry looked at the mode of historical culture and the artisanal work of professionals which, apart from mechanization since the 1990s, has finally changed little since 1880, when mussel farming began on this coast on the border of the Loire-Atlantique, from the bay of Pont-Mahé to Ambon.
“The project managers came to Bile Point in August, where they saw tourists on the beach, tractors pulling up concessions. It is a bit the specificity of here: small bays, with mussel farming concessions well imbricated in the landscape (1) and which can be seen from the ground ”, adds Bernard Tobie, grand chancellor of the bouchoteurs.
On the spot, the observers did not remain in their shell. They understood that “Pénestin lives to the rhythm of the mussels. We are home to mussel farming and celebrations like the Mytilus evening or the Mouclades… ”, recalls the municipality. They also tasted three great classics (mussels in seafood, curry, Roquefort) and obviously noticed “The exceptional flesh rate. Here, when you have 1 kg of mussels, cook them and remove the shells, 35 to 40% of the flesh remains. The PDO of Mont-Saint-Michel is rather at 25% and the national Red Label at 27% “, compare the Penestinians.
Popular and affordable
If bouchot mussels are so plump, it is because with the tides, they are sometimes found in the water, sometimes in the air, which makes them muscle. “It is also because we do not overload the piles on which we make them grow (30 kg on average per pile), and because they have a lot of food in the water of the estuary of the Vilaine”, specify Reynald Bernard, mytiliculteur, and Thibaud Camaret, president of the shellfish union. The 3,500 to 4,000 tonnes annually (5% of bouchots in France) begin to be harvested in June “And everything is consumed in four to five months, locally and in a sales area included in a Lorient-Rungis-Bayonne triangle. »
With this new prestigious logo affixed to its mussels, Pénestin hopes for tourism and media coverage next season, and even requests from top chefs. “It will not increase the price per kilo (4 to 4.50 € on site). Because mussels are popular and affordable, slide the pros. It’s a cheap meal from the sea, full of iron and magnesium. You can eat 2 kg of it, you will not get fat. “ On the other hand, when the mussels also have the fries, it is less certain.
(1) 215 ha of concessions, around 30 companies.
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