Salon International de l’Agriculture, Paris

The day we went to Salon International de l’Agriculture, it was pouring down with rain. Anticipating a large crowd – being that it was a Saturday – we opted for an early start.

Hall 1 was the livestock sector, meaning pigs, sheep, cows and beef cattle.

There were demos on how to cut and cure meat as well as animal competitions on the ground.

Hall 2 was all about crops and plants.

But Hall 3 – Food products from 13 regions of France – was where we spent most of our time. Starting with these Langouille sausages from Loire-Atlantique.

The langouille is composed of tongues of pork arranged in length and embossed in a natural beef casing. It can be smoked and salted with Guérande salt, marinated for 48 hours in a brine, smoked in beech wood and oak, then cooked in a broth.

From Brittany –  Tome de Rhuys

Salted butter caramels in candies, tubes (as coulis) and jars (as bread spread)

Kouign Aman, Far Breton (some sort of clafoutis like pastry with plums) and Gâteau Breton

Oysters

Crepes and Galettes

Andouille de Guémené – a pork sausage made from pigs’ intestines and stomachs.

Later in our trip, I had the opportunity of tasting one of these sausages on my galette at Breizh Café in Paris. Trust me when I say that it is an acquired taste…

From the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, we sampled the famous cheese.

Aged 10-year and 20-year, they were perfectly creamy and nutty with a slight hint of sweetness.

More sausages…

and Pâté from Hauts-de-France

Before I opened my wallet and bought a jar of l’escargotine (a mousse made of snails, herbs and spices) from this vendor in Roussillon

and mountain honey from the Hautes-Alpes region.

There were beautiful butter displays

and colorful Roquefort…

Tapanades and Olive oils from sunny Provence

Delicious Lucques olives from Languedoc

Huge bread

More oysters…I lost track of which region we were in

But then I only had to look up…

Pink Garlic from Lautrec

Doesn’t this guy remind you of Jean Reno?

More sausages and hams…

Some alcohol…

A live band…

Whoa, what is this?

More hams…

More cheese…

More alcohol…

French beer?

Foie gras…(gold medal 2017, silver medal 2016)

Entier or Mi-Cuit (gold medal 2015)

Foie Gras from Périgord (38 medals in 17 years)

Dried prunes and Porcini mushrooms…so fragrant

Baking Canelé

Espelette peppers from the Basque region

Nougat – We specifically loved the Amarena cherry flavor.

Turning Savoyard Potato Gratin

Sausages

Pistachio Calisson and Lavender Nougat from Provence

Clementine Liqueur from Corsica – Despite its high alcohol content, I rather like this!

Did you know that Corsican clementine is the only French variety of this fruit?

More cured meat from Corsica

Freshly pressed Olive Oil from Corsica

As the lunch crowd rolled in, the food hall started to get congested. That’s when we decided that it was time to move on to the next exhibit.

Which didn’t help much either, because apparently all of Paris is here on this rainy day.

So after being jostled around for seeing these Alpacas and Scottish highland cattle

we exited the show in good time.

Note: First held in 1870, Salon International de l’Agriculture, also known as the Paris International Agricultural Show, is one of the largest agricultural shows in the world, that takes place at the end of February or beginning of March at the Porte de Versailles in Paris, France. This year’s show hosted 1050 exhibitors and more than 4000 animals from 22 countries. 

My advice for anyone attending the show in the future is to go on a weekday and go early. Bring cash for food and a good hand sanitizer, especially if you like to touch cute animals 🙂