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PGI — Normandy
Reared in the shade of apple trees and bocage grasslands, Porc de Normandie carries the rich, balanced flavour of its verdant lands — an exceptional raw ingredient for great French charcuterie.
Pork from Normandy, PGI (IGP) since 1997.
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Normandy has a long charcuterie tradition intimately linked to pig farming. Since the Middle Ages, every Norman farm raised pigs, housed in rudimentary shelters (wood, earth or granite depending on the department) and living outdoors on the pastures; the slaughter of the pig gave rise to a celebration bringing together family and neighbours, with the meat being salted to build up reserves and the offal turned into boudin, pâtés and rillettes. Norman charcuterie — andouille de Vire, tripes à la mode de Caen, smoked sausages — represents one of the oldest gastronomic traditions of north-western France.
Local breeds had been selected for this farm-based rearing — the Bayeux breed (Calvados), the Domfront breed (Orne), and a breed bearing the name Normand — before the industrialisation of pig farming in the mid-20th century caused these local breeds to disappear as the dominant method of rearing. The Bayeux breed, in particular, has not disappeared entirely: with very low numbers (around thirty farms, about a hundred breeding sows), it is recognised as an endangered breed threatened with abandonment and is the subject of an active conservation programme. Free-range Normandy farm pork has revived these traditional rearing conditions: the animals have an outdoor run of at least 50 m² each and are fed a diet consisting of at least 75% cereals and cereal by-products.
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The Normandy bocage — this landscape of hedgerows, apple trees and rolling grasslands — extends across the five departments of the PGI (IGP) area. The region still boasts 170,900 km of hedgerows; Manche is the department with the most bocage in France, ahead of Calvados (6th nationally) and Orne (7th), whilst Seine-Maritime and Eure, with less hedgerow cover, bring up the rear. This network of hedgerows and pastures is accompanied by a temperate climate, softened by the proximity of the sea, which allows pigs to be reared outdoors all year round: the Normandy farm pig is a rooting animal that turns over the soil to a depth of some twenty centimetres and feeds on the roots and tubers it finds there, supplementing its cereal feed — a link to the terroir reinforced by the regional origin of the grain provided.
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Recognition as a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) in 1997 officialised the production area and rearing conditions of Normandy pork at European level. Although geographically close, Andouille de Vire and Porc de Normandie (PGI) are not in competition: the generic name 'Andouille de Vire' has fallen into the public domain and is not protected by any PGI — any charcutier can make it, wherever they are based — only 'Véritable andouille de Vire', under AOC, guarantees both the recipe and the geographical origin of the pigs used. PGI Normandy pork is the benchmark raw ingredient, whilst Andouille de Vire is a processed product with its own distinct identity.
Appearance
Light pink meat, marbled (mottled white/pink). Milky white fat, well integrated into the muscle fibre.
Aroma
Delicate scent of fresh meat, with sweet notes reminiscent of apples and pastures. No strong musky odour.
Taste
Delicate, balanced flavour, half-sweet half-savoury, with nutty notes and a slight residual sweetness from apples. Meltingly tender flesh, with no fibrous toughness.
Texture
Flesh firm when raw, tender when cooked, not dry. The fat melts harmoniously without being cloying. Excellent cooking yield.
The PGI specifications do not impose a mandatory breed: historic local breeds (Bayeux, Domfront, Normand) ceased to be the basis of mainstream production with the industrialisation of farming in the 20th century, and today's Normandy farm pig is selected above all for its rearing conditions — outdoors, cereal diet, minimum slaughter age — rather than for a single breed. The Bayeux breed is an exception to the industrialisation rule: it has not disappeared and survives in very small numbers thanks to a conservation programme (IFIP, Syndicat des éleveurs, Région Normandie), without however being required by the PGI specifications.
Main commercial cuts: hams (fore, hind), chops, roasts (loin, collar), belly (processed into lard), offal (liver, kidneys).
Piglets born on the farm, maternal suckling for several weeks.
Permanent access to an open-air run on bare ground of at least 50 m² per animal, in the Normandy bocage.
Continued outdoor rearing until the minimum age required for slaughter.
Carried out by regional charcuterie houses.
Minimum slaughter age: 26 weeks.
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Norman hams: Served thinly sliced, raw or lightly cured. Accompaniments: fresh parsley, semi-salted butter, pain de campagne. Chops/Roasts: Slow-roasted in the oven (160°C) or braised in Norman cider with shallots, mushrooms and cream. Finished with Calvados. Processed charcuterie: Sliced Andouille de Vire, pâtés and rillettes are enjoyed cold as a starter with cornichons and toasted bread.
Pairings: dry Norman cider, Normandy blond beer, dry white wine (Muscadet), Calvados as a digestif. To accompany cooked meat: light red wine (Pinot Noir, red Sancerre).
Since: 1997
Area covered: Eure, Seine-Maritime, Calvados, Orne, Manche + neighbouring cantons
Key requirements: Outdoor rearing, outdoor run min. 50 m²/animal; feed min. 75% cereals and cereal by-products; minimum slaughter age: 26 weeks
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