Saffron, Snails and Shitake

Saffron has been cultivated in France since Roman times, but production didn’t reach its heights until the 16th-18th Centuries. This ‘red gold’ was highly prized not only as a culinary spice, but was also used as a dye for cloth, as a paint (producing a perfect substitute to gold colour), and a medicinal cure for a range of ailments. By the 19th Century, production declined dramatically due to competition from cheaper ‘fakes’ and phylloxera disease (which also ‘killed’ the wine industry).
Today, French saffron is once again in demand, as chefs seek a high quality, hand harvested product, and the industry is flourishing.
Saffron comes from a variety of crocus, Crocus Sativus, which produces 3 orange stigmas inside its purple petals. These stigmas are hand-picked and dried for up to a year before being stored in a dark, airtight container. It takes 150,000 crocus flowers to produce a kilo of saffron which is why it is so expensive. Thankfully, you only need to use 4-5 stigmas to flavour a dish.
At Cynfael, saffron grower Sabrina Clavier will tell you about the history of the farm, how they cultivate saffron and the culinary and cosmetic products they produce. You’ll also get some tastings and a recipe sheet. And, if you’re visiting in October, you will see the fields of blooming flowers.
The tour lasts 1:30 hours and tickets can be purchased on arrival. Visits are Monday-Friday from March-October and daily in October and November. The tour begins at 10am

This is a wonderful place to lunch, situated on Saint Aubin Island, and accessible only in April-October (the surrounding river floods the island in winter) via a tiny hand-pulled ferry – you can even help the ferryman pull you across the river. The open-air café serves a range of tasty burgers, salads and tapas (all ingredients are locally sourced) on the riverbank with great views of Angers town.
There is ample parking where you board the ferry.

This is where the famous Cointreau (the orange liqueur loved by cocktail makers) is produced and it’s worth a quick stop here to visit the shop. As well as Cointreau products, you can also buy other spirits produced by the Rémy group (whiskey, rum, cognac) as well as themed bar accessories, sweets and chocolates – a good place to pick up gifts and souvenirs.
Note the shop is closed on Sundays and Mondays.

Jacky and and her son Julien Roulleau call themselves the ‘night gardeners’ and you’ll soon see why. At La Cave Champignonniere, you will be given a guided tour through a labyrinth of underground galleries to discover the world of mushroom cultivation. These caves date to the 16th Century when ‘tuffeau’, a soft stone was mined, and have been used for growing mushrooms since the 1950s. In the different galleries you’ll see button, shitake and oyster mushrooms being cultivated, as well as the unusual curly ‘bluefoot’ mushroom, and learn about the different methods of growing and harvesting – from seed to plate.
The farm is open daily from April-October (10-12pm and 2-6pm). Tours depart every 15 minutes and take around an hour.
The small town of Le Puy Notre Dame is actually famous for mushroom production because of the extraordinary number of underground caverns in this area. During the 1980s, at its height, there were around 500 ‘night gardeners’, producing 60-70 tonnes a day.

This is a lovely hotel in the pretty town of Saumur. Formally a 17th Century Stagecoach house for travelling pilgrims, the building has retained many of its historic features including the lovely tuffeau stone patio.

This is a smart restaurant serving classic French dishes from a set menu. L’Escargot are a regional speciality. The restaurant sources them from the many small snail farms around Angers and serves them 3 ways including the classic - with olive oil and parsley.
Note the restaurant is closed on Sundays and Mondays and dinner service ends at 9:15pm. Reservations are recommended. Book online.

Return to the hotel.