Given the French obsession with eating well, it comes as no surprise to discover that France is also obsessed with protecting what it eats. Nowadays the different products fall under the European Union’s umbrella for protection, but France is something of a world pioneer in protecting its unique gastronomy. As a result, hundreds of French products enjoy protected status including wines and spirits, meat and poultry, cheeses, fruit and vegetables, butter and even mustard paste. In this article, we look at the different types of status and list 13 of the best protected French foods.
Did you know?
- 435 French wines have protected status
- as do 256 food products
- and 53 types of spirits
History of protected French foods
While the modern system is just over a century old, the roots to protecting food in France go back centuries. In 1411, Roquefort cheese was the first French product to receive government regulation on its origin and production.
A more modern system for protecting products in France came in specifically for wine in 1919 with other food items following suit in 1990. Since then, the EU has introduced a similar system and all French products now come under this umbrella.
Types of protection for French foods
Appellation d’Origine Protegée (AOP)
Appellation d’Origine Protegée (AOP) status is given to produce from a particular region and based specifically on location in France. This protected geographical indication is gradually replacing the French Appellation d’Origine Controlée (AOC), a familiar acronym on French wine labels. AOC was created in 1923 to safeguard Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine from competitors, and regulates conditions for wine production methods and volume.
The EU title for this categorisation is ‘protected designation of origin’ (PDO).
> Read our guide to French wine
Indication Géographique Protégée (Protected Geographical Indication/PGI)
Despite its name, PGI isn’t so much about geography as quality. The status protects food and drink with a specific quality from a particular region. Quality and origin protected foodstuffs fall mainly into this category although 15% of French wines produced fit into this one too.
Traditional Specialities Guaranteed (TSG)
The third denomination for French protected food is all about the tradition behind how a product is made. This status has little to do with where it’s from and is mostly awarded to processed food and the production process.
Did you know? France is currently the country in Europe with the most applications for new protection status for products.
What’s in it for the consumer?
Giving produce protected status adds prestige to a label, but consumer benefits go much further. When you buy a registered product with PDO, PGI or TSG status, you know that it does what it says on the tin. Quality comes guaranteed.
Did you know? You can see all foods with protected status in France on the European Commission website.
Best protected foods in France
With almost 750 products on the list, choosing the best protected French foods was always going to be a challenge. But rather than going for Champagne or Saint-Chinian, both very well-known PDOs (AOCs), we’ve gone off piste in search of some of the more unusual products. The result? A veritable foodie feast!
Best protected French cheese
Visit your next cheese market with refreshed knowledge about traditional speciality and production methods. 55 cheeses sit on the list, all delicious, but rather than go for Brie de Meaux or Comté, our selection is Picodon. This goat’s milk cheese comes from the Ardèche and Drome area in the Rhône Valley. Meaning ‘spicy’ in Occitan, Picodon is creamy with a full flavour that, in true fromage style, gets stronger (and smellier) as it grows older. How’s that for traditional specialities guaranteed?!
> Browse our dictionary of French cheeses
Best protected French fruit
Along with strawberries from the Perigord, Agen plums and Limousin apples, a decidedly un-French fruit makes an appearance. However, some lesser known fruits are also aptly deserved of protected designations of origin.
The kiwi from l’Adour (in the foothills of the Pyrenees) dates back just 30 years but the quality of the soil plus ocean climate combine to produce the best hairy green fruits in France.
Did you know? Kiwis are an economic symbol in l’Adour and grown by 350 farmers.
Best protected French meat
Poultry literally rules the geographical indication roost in the agricultural product category, but we’ve chosen lamb, specifically from Quercy. The agneau from this part of the Lot has enjoyed a reputation for excellence on French dining tables since the 1770s. Meat from the black-faced Quercy lambs has a surprisingly delicate taste.
Best protected French vegetable
No list of French protected foods would be complete without a mention of haricots. This is the vegetable staple that forms the backbone of cassoulet, the signature stew in France. Grown in Tarbes in l’Occitanie, the white beans have a soft skin and creamy taste and importantly for your fellow diners, easy digestion.
Did you know? Haricots tarbais can also be used for desserts and cakes like these 20 recipe suggestions
Best protected French honey
To find the best honey in France, you need to go offshore to Corsica where the scented maquis countryside produces six types of honey. Apiculture goes back centuries on the island where once almost every household owned a hive. Today some 450 beekeepers produce the honey with tastes ranging from floral to acidic via caramel and liquorice.
Best protected French bread
More of a bun than bread proper, brioche is made throughout France and is a favourite on the breakfast or afternoon goûter table. But only one has protected status and that’s the brioche vendéenne. From the Vendée region in western France, production methods of this version create a melt in the mouth quality that you won’t find anywhere else.
Did you know? The gâche vendéenne, a smaller and sweeter version of the brioche, also has protected status.
Best French protected salt
Two salts have protected status: sel de Guérande and sel de Salies-de-Bearn. The former is harvested in the salt marshes in the Guérande Peninsula in Brittany and the latter in Aquitaine in southwest France. Both are the favourites of gourmands and in the case of Salies-de-Bearn form the backbone of other French protected foods such as jambon de Bayonne.
Best French protected herb and spice
Even condiments get protection in France and this is the case with thyme from Provence and pepper from Espelette. Thym de Provence grows throughout the region and is one of the main ingredients in local cuisine. The thin, red piment d’Espelette belongs to the capsicum family and comes fresh, dried, ground or pickled. Unlike its chilli pepper relatives, piment d’Espelette is mild not hot.
Did you know? Thyme (thym in French) is known as farigoule in the Provence dialect.
> Find out more about typical Provence cuisine
Best protected French butter
As part and parcel of French cuisine, beurre just has to be on the list of protected foods. Beurre d’Isigny, made in northern France, is golden in colour and contains mineral salts that give the butter its unique flavour creating a renowned traditional speciality.
Best protected French oysters
As the main dish on the Christmas table in Paris and a national passion, huitres seem almost obliged to have protected status. But just those from Marennes Oléron enjoy the PGI seal of geographical indication. Farmed off the island of Oléron on the Atlantic coast near La Rochelle, these oysters are famed as some of the most exquisite in France.
Did you know? As well as Oléron oysters, Saint Jacques scallops, mussels from Mont St Michel and cockles from Granville make up the list of protected shellfish in France.
Best protected French eggs
With nearly 750 protected items on the list, you’d expect to find almost everything in the pantry. Eggs included. Just one gets PGI status and it’s the oeufs de Loué. Farmed from hens in the Loué region between Rennes and Orléans, these eggs have an unusually pinkish shell and pale yellow yolk. But it’s the creamy taste that makes them stand out and is what you pay for – Loué oeufs are some of the most expensive on the market.
Best protected mustard paste
In a country famous for its moutarde, you’d think several would make it on the protected list. But despite worthy competition from Dijon, only moutarde de Bourgogne enjoys PGI status. Made with local white wine and mustard seeds grown in charcoal ashes, Burgundy mustard comes in two versions: strong or very strong.
Discover the best protected foods in France
All our luxury hotel barge vacations offer the very best in French wining and dining, and showcase produce with protected status. Treat yourself to the gourmet break you deserve while you discover the beauty of France from her waterways.
Read more French food articles
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- French food books to gift
- 18 foodie treats from Provence
- The best French food blogs
- What to eat in Bordeaux
- 20 iconic French dishes
- History of soft French cheeses
- 3 Comté recipes for the weekend
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