Every Saturday and Sunday, Vanessa Zhâ and Marion Sauveur make us discover some nuggets of French heritage.
Today, head for Brittany, and more precisely Finistère, for a tour of the Route des Phares, before tasting the red lobster.
It is in Brittany, in Finistère, that you take us Vanessa.
Yes that's it.
Finistère, in old French, means "the end of the earth".
And that's what we're going to do this morning: we land at the end of the point, where the elements are unleashed, where we feel very much alive.
To take in the sights, of course, we get closer to the headlights.
A beautiful gateway also to pierce the soul of Finistériens.
So there is an official Lighthouse Route.
You can survey it entirely or in sections.
There is even an application that geolocates the three types of lighthouses according to their dangerousness: lighthouses of hell, purgatory and paradise.
And my heart leans towards the lighthouses of the Iroise Sea, around the Crozon peninsula.
There is just one great hike.
You leave Camaret at nightfall for a three hour walk.
We only do 6 km, but we take the time (also the time to get your eyes used to the dark).
No lamps, the point is to slip into the light of the headlights.
And it's Claire, hiking guide for Dizolo, who plunges us into this universe.
Lighthouses, she loves them all, even if she has her favorites like the Minou lighthouse.
"It's a fairly easy name to remember. It comes from the Breton 'men' which means stone. In the plural, it gives 'men-ou', which then turned into 'little kitty'. This lighthouse lights up red when approaching a fairly dangerous rocky plateau, and sailors, to remember it, define it as: 'the kitty blushes when it covers the little girls', since this rocky plateau is called the Girls' Plateau. "
It's always very colorful. Moreover, it often gives birth to legends.
More or less gloomy legends, like that of the Tevennec lighthouse, which is off the Ile de Sein: the lighthouse of the fools.
The guards lived in total autarky, and the majority of them threw themselves into the sea. Why?
There is a reason but it is Claire who will deliver you from this mystery.
Rest assured, there are also great stories and especially good times, like the favorite lighthouse on each hike.
"This is the moment when I would have prepared a Breton far with prunes, accompanied by a small bottle of cider (or apple juice) from the peninsula, to savor in front of the Iroise Sea."
Lighthouse or Far Breton, a nice Breton wink to end this walk, before going along the megalithic alignments of Lagatjar to reach the small port of Camaret.
And in the light of day Vanessa, what do you advise us?
Explore the marine trails by bike or on foot, it's a gem!
Imagine that you are still in the middle of the Armorique Regional Natural Park and the Iroise Sea Marine Park.
So the color of the water flirts with that of Tahiti, the cliffs on the Cap de la Chèvre side are monumental.
You have the possibility of doing geological and sound walks but also of entering the marine caves of Morgat by kayak.
And then to sleep, we will do it with the keel in the air.
I have unusual accommodation under a boat hull: it's the Kastell Dinn in Crozon.
Marion Sauveur, with you we will stay on the Ile de Sein. What do you taste there?
A crustacean caught off the island: the red lobster.
Unlike lobster or langoustines, it does not have claws.
Brittany lobster does not have the same color, since it is blue.
Its shell changes color during cooking to become red-orange.
And the lobster is recognizable by its long antennae and its thorns on the sides.
It is an exceptional product, because it is a rare species!
It has been protected since the 2000s, after having been fished on a massive scale in the Finistère seas for nearly a century.
But by the end of the 1990s, it had almost disappeared from the region's funds.
Fishermen and scientists have worked hand in hand to preserve the species.
What protective measures have been put in place?
Today, you can no longer fish for lobsters less than 11 cm, nor take grained females (which carry eggs) and you cannot fish them from January to March.
The season will therefore resume in a few days and if you are lucky enough to be in Brittany, you will be able to taste its delicate flesh.
How do you choose a lobster?
We choose her alive.
It must be very lively: a living lobster, you can see it.
She needs to fold her tail under her body when you pick it up.
And it must be intact: its legs must not be broken.
And do not confuse it with its cousin, the green lobster which has a blander flesh and which lives in the waters of Mauritania.
How does it cook?
You must not alter its taste.
Some will tell you to make a court-bouillon to cook it quickly, before grilling it.
But in this way, it risks being overcooked.
As with lobster, you have to kill the animal with a knife, so as not to make the animal suffer too much and respect the flesh for cooking.
Here is the method of Christine Poilvet, of the restaurant La case de Tom, on the island of Sein.
“You just have to stick the knife in your brain.
Then we go down with the knife straight, to the end of the tail.
You split in two.
You put it all together in a dish.
Then we put it all in the oven.
You can let go for the first eight minutes.
As soon as you get to ten minutes, you pay attention.
It's worth taking the dish out of the oven: if it's perfectly cooked, it peels off the shell.
It must be pearly.
And don't forget to coat it with semi-salted butter.
Do not hesitate with a brush, at the end of cooking, before serving. "
Recipe in the oven
Ingredients:
1 lobster
10 g semi-salted butter
Production :
1. Place your lobster in a dish.
Bake at 180 degrees.
2. Monitor the cooking after about ten minutes.
It is cooked if the flesh peels off from the shell and takes on a pearly white color.
3. Once cooked, coat with semi-salted butter with a brush.
Christine serves this lobster naturally, at least 800 grams per person.
It's generous, because even though she doesn't have a pincer, she has a very full head.
And with the view from its terrace on the beach.
It's perfect.
I can't wait for the restaurants to reopen!
At home, you can also barbecue it.
It's going to be the season!
Before cooking, brush your lobsters with butter, which you have softened, with a brush.
You need very hot embers to mark the lobster at the start of cooking on the flesh.
Then turn them shell side up and cook until the flesh is pearly white and peels off from the shell.
No more, otherwise it will be rubbery.
I like this little taste of braised flesh.
Serve it with a pan-fried green asparagus.
A seasonal land-sea agreement.
Barbecue recipe
Ingredients:
1 lobster
10 g semi-salted butter
Production :
1. Brush your lobsters with softened butter.
2. Place your lobsters, flesh side down, on your grid.
Very hot embers are needed to mark the lobster at the start of cooking.
After 2 minutes, turn your lobsters shell side up and cook until the flesh is pearly white and peels off from the shell.
3. Serve the lobster with a pan of green asparagus.
A seasonal land-sea agreement.