AI-generated illustration
Champagne-Ardenne
A tiny pink grain hidden beneath the chalk of Champagne, the lentillon was once the 'lentille à la reine' before disappearing from the fields, then reborn from three sacks found in an attic, today aiming for PGI status.
Pulse from Champagne-Ardenne.
AI-generated illustration
The lentillon has been grown in Champagne crayeuse since at least the 18th century, according to agronomic works that mention it. It was first known there under the name 'lentille à la reine', in reference to Marie Leszczyńska, the Polish wife of Louis XV and a great lover of this small lentil: served at the finest tables, it featured in the cookery books of the period. It was in 1770 that a work dedicated to animal fodder, the Traité des bêtes à laines, first linked the cultivation of the lentillon directly to Champagne, noting that 'the dragée de Champagne is good for in-lamb and newly delivered ewes, the lentillon is excellent'. From that time onwards, the grain was sown with a support plant—the Abbé Rozier described in 1785, in his Cours complet d'Agriculture, the practice of sowing lentils together with oats or barley, then separating them at harvest by winnowing. In 1904, the work Les Plantes Potagères by Vilmorin-Andrieux still praised this small grain, 'much esteemed and preferred by many to that of the large lentil'.
In the 19th century, sorting the harvested seed mixture was carried out using the tacteur, a hammer tool whose characteristic pounding—the 'TAC-TAC'—set the rhythm of villages across the chalk plain and has remained in the memory of the Champardennais. The cultivation of the lentillon, widespread at the end of the First World War, continued until the Second: two cooperatives, the Union Champenoise des Producteurs in Châlons-en-Champagne and the Coopérative d'Approvisionnement de Vitry-le-François, were then organised to store, sort and market the lentillons. Their activity with this grain ceased around 1965, and cultivation was abandoned for several years.
AI-generated illustration
It was from three sacks of seed found in 1972 in Courtisols, in the Marne, that René Devalance, an approved grower and storer, revived production in 1983. The resulting variety, 'lentillon rosé de Champagne', was registered in the official French catalogue of vegetable species and varieties in 1989 by the Ferme des Anglais, a seed-producing firm, which described it at the time as offering 'the finest culinary quality currently known'. In 2001, growers organised themselves into a regional association, today the Syndicat des producteurs de lentillons champenois, open to operators from upstream to downstream in the sector; a storage and sorting facility was established in Coupéville, in the Marne, in 2004, built by eleven producers. The name 'Lentillon champenois' was registered with the Institut national de la propriété industrielle in 2018, before the syndicate submitted an application for PGI status in 2022. It obtained recognition as an organisme de défense et de gestion on 3 October 2024, and the PGI specification has been approved by the relevant national committee of the INAO, with a view to forwarding an application for registration to the European Commission, which remains under consideration to this day. Today, the lentillon is grown on around 90 hectares by some twenty producers, yielding an annual volume of 50 to 90 tonnes, sold mostly on local and national markets, with a small share exported to Belgium, Germany, Austria and Sweden.
Appearance
Small lentil with a domed shape, less than 4 mm in diameter and between 1.5 and 2.5 mm thick; very low thousand-grain weight, between 20 and 35 g; salmon-orange to pinkish kernel, brown seed coat, seed presented whole.
Aroma
Notes of hay and chestnut.
Taste
Mild and slightly sweet.
Texture
Thin skin, melting and barely floury texture; holds together well during cooking, preserving the integrity of the skin.
carried out when the pods are dried out and predominantly brown, in July.
AI-generated illustration
The lentillon champenois is particularly prized by restaurateurs in the region, who gladly pair it with noble products such as foie gras, king scallops or roasted langoustines. The Michelin-starred chef Philippe Mille features it on his gourmet menus at the restaurant Les Crayères, in Reims, and at the Royal Champagne in Champillon, the Michelin-starred chef Jean-Denis Rieubland serves cod accompanied by lentillon.
No official quality mark obtained to date. The product specification for the PGI (IGP) 'Lentillon champenois' has been approved by the relevant national committee of the INAO and an application for registration has been submitted to the European Commission (file PGI-FR-03364): European recognition remains, at this stage, under consideration.
No producer is listed for this product yet.