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Pays de la Loire
Between the salt marshes of yesteryear and the claires of today, the Isle de Bouin oyster carries in its iodised flesh the entire history of a former salt storehouse turned oyster-farming land.
Seafood from Pays de la Loire.
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Before becoming a land of oysters, the Isle de Bouin was first a land of salt. From Roman times, and later with the arrival of monks following the evangelisation by Saint Martin de Vertou, the islet became covered with salt marshes; in the 17th and 18th centuries, at the height of salt production, Bouin became one of the most important salt-producing centres on the Atlantic coast. However, the gradual silting up of the Dain and competition from mined salt and the salt marshes of the Midi precipitated the decline of this centuries-old activity; today, only a few sauniers still carry on the tradition.
The oyster itself has been known on this coast for far longer: oysters were already gathered at the entrance to the Baie de Bourgneuf 8,000 years ago, and archaeological excavations on both sides of the island attest to a Gallo-Roman presence where the shellfish, cooked or raw, was preserved, dried, salted, or smoked. Prized in the Middle Ages all the way to the table of the kings of France, it was not until the mid-19th century, however, that organised cultivation began with the flat oyster (Ostrea edulis): enjoying a solid reputation among gourmets until the late 19th century, it eventually vanished, the victim of both overexploitation of the beds and successive epidemics.
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It was in the mid-20th century that oyster farming took firm root in Bouin: the earliest concession recorded in the commune dates from 1941, when farming was carried out by repeatedly casting oysters onto the beds as the trawls passed. In 1947, Charentais oyster farmers originally from Marennes-Oléron and Fouras arrived to prospect the maritime public domain of the Baie de Bourgneuf, which was still untouched by marine aquaculture, and settled in large numbers. They took advantage of the commune's four ports — Port des Brochets, Port des Champs, Port de la Louippe, and Port du Bec, nicknamed the 'Chinese port' for its wooden pontoons. Initially built of timber planks coated with coaltar — the coal tar used to waterproof boats — their working cabins gradually evolved into permanent masonry buildings, though they are still called cabanes today.
The construction between 1959 and 1962 of a 200-hectare polder reclaimed from the sea — unique in Europe for its location and layout — gave the industry fresh room for development; since the 1970s, it is the Japanese cupped oyster (Crassostrea gigas) that has been reared here, following the successive setbacks of the flat oyster and then the Portuguese oyster. Today, the commune has around 180 facilities devoted mainly to oyster farming, as well as to other marine aquaculture.
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This savoir-faire is now recognised well beyond the Vendée alone. Bouin oysters are marketed under the designation 'Huître Vendée Atlantique', which the Comité Régional de la Conchyliculture des Pays de la Loire also refers to under the name 'Huîtres et Moules des Pays de la Loire'. They have won several medals at the Concours Général Agricole in Paris — silver in 2017 and 2019, gold in 2022, and silver once again in 2023. In 2023, the commune of Bouin joined the national network of Sites Remarquables du Goût for its oysters, alongside camembert normand, Margaux wines, and the sardine de Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie.
Taste
sweet on the palate, delicately iodised, with a subtle nutty flavour.
Texture
fresh, crisp flesh.
Spat is reared in the open sea for around three years on the beds along the coast of the Baie de Bourgneuf.
Sorted, graded, and washed, they are packed into bourriches before being sold to consumers.
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Nicknamed the 'Queen of the Baie de Bourgneuf', the Isle de Bouin oyster is best enjoyed plain, on a bed of ice, with a simple squeeze of lemon or salted Vendée butter to allow its subtle nutty note to shine through. Every year on the first Sunday in August, the commune celebrates this heritage during the Fête des Gobeurs d'Huîtres, a major tasting competition held in traditional oyster-farmer attire.
No official quality mark (PDO (AOP)/AOC/PGI (IGP)/TSG (STG)/Label Rouge/Organic). Bouin oysters are marketed under the commercial designation 'Huître Vendée Atlantique', also designated 'Huîtres et Moules des Pays de la Loire' by the Comité Régional de la Conchyliculture — a collective mark, not an official quality sign. In 2023, Bouin also joined the Sites Remarquables du Goût network for its oysters: a territorial distinction, not a product label.
No producer is listed for this product yet.