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PGI — Label Rouge — Pays de la Loire
Le Cénomans — farmhouse pork from Maine reared on straw since the Middle Ages, an alliance of a thousand-year-old tradition and modern quality standards.
Pork from Pays de la Loire, PGI (IGP) since 1997.
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Pig farming in Sarthe dates back to the Middle Ages: the earliest written records date from 1144 and 1219, complemented by depictions such as a stained-glass window in Saint-Julien du Mans Cathedral. At that time, pigs were driven into the woods to feed on acorns — the 'glandée' — giving rise to a right of 'panage' between woodland owners and peasants. Later, Sarthe farms reared their pigs in 'soues', small, low-built structures with an outdoor yard, a technique that has endured in some traditional farmsteads to this day.
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Rillettes have forged the culinary reputation of Sarthe: they are known interchangeably as rillettes du Mans, rillettes de la Sarthe or rillettes sarthoises, and the department is today the leading producer in France. They have their own brotherhood, the Chevaliers de la Rillette Sarthoise, which meets every year in Mamers, and a definition enshrined in the Code de la Charcuterie. By 1971, the local industry was already processing 25,000 tonnes of meat across 24 plants — far more than the 19,000 tonnes of pork then produced in the department, forcing Sarthe charcutiers to source supplies beyond their borders.
The 'Porc Fermier de la Sarthe' Label Rouge was approved on 20 July 1989 under No. 05-89, rewarding superior quality. The 'Porc de la Sarthe' PGI was registered in 1997. It was not until publication in the Journal officiel on 2 December 2020 that the two designations were officially combined, allowing products to carry the dual guarantee of terroir (PGI) and superior quality (Label Rouge).
The Sarthe terroir combines two elements:
Appearance
Meat of an even pink colour, with white, firm backfat.
Aroma
When cooked, the fat releases an intense aroma.
Taste
An assertive flavour, carried by fat that lends character to the meat once cooked.
Texture
Firm meat that remains firm upon cooking, with an even, deep colour to the core.
Large White, Landrace and Piétrain, which gradually replaced local Sarthe breeds from the 1950s onwards.
Open buildings with an outdoor yard or range, permanent straw bedding, or rearing in open fields.
Minimum 20% barley in the ration, supplemented with cereals — a diet that gives the fat its firmness and colour.
Reared for a minimum of 6 months before slaughter.
Open buildings inspired by traditional 'soues', or straw-bedded mobile shelters in open fields.
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Pork chops, braised roast, charcuterie. Excellent braised in dry Loire cider. The firm meat stands up well to prolonged cooking. The base for traditional rillettes and pâtés.
Since: 1997
Area covered: Sarthe (in its entirety) and neighbouring cantons of Mayenne, Maine-et-Loire, Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher, Eure-et-Loir
Key requirements: Local and modern breeds, min. 20% barley, reared on straw or in open fields, slaughtered at 6 months minimum
Since: 1989
Area covered: Sarthe (in its entirety) and neighbouring cantons of Mayenne, Maine-et-Loire, Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher, Eure-et-Loir
Key requirements: No. 05-89, approved on 20 July 1989, associated with the PGI (IGP) since 2 December 2020
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