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Label Rouge — PGI — Rhône-Alpes
Smaller than a coin, filled with Comté and fromage blanc, passed down since the Middle Ages by the itinerant "ravioleuses" of Dauphiné — ravioles are proof that the greatest specialities are often born quietly.
Cereal from Rhône-Alpes, PGI (IGP) since 2009.
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The name "raviole" is said to derive from the word "rissole", which referred to fried balls of minced meat: during Lent, the meat was replaced with turnips, hence the shift towards "raviole". The first written mention of the word is said to date back to 1228, according to research by the philologist Frédéric Godefroy — an origin so ancient that today's Dauphiné producers continue to claim it. The dish is even mentioned in Boccace's Décaméron, published in 1352, which describes a mythical mountain country where people eat ravioles cooked in capon broth. Meatless, the raviole was initially a Lenten dish before becoming, over the centuries, festive fare in the Dauphiné countryside.
Drôme and Isère supplied the ingredients for the filling: fresh fromage blanc from local dairies and Comté from neighbouring cheese dairies. The combination of these two cheeses — one smooth and fresh, the other dry and complex — bound with fresh parsley sautéed in butter, forms the signature filling enshrined in the PGI (IGP) specifications.
In the second half of the 19th century, a very distinct profession emerged: the "ravioleuse". These women, also nicknamed "bonnes femmes" or "mères", travelled from house to house on the eve of feast days to make up to twenty "grosses" of ravioles — a gross being 144 pieces. In Romans, they also prepared ravioles in cafés for shoemakers, the town's dominant industry at the time. In 1873, one of them, la mère Maury, settled in Romans by taking over the café de la banque on the place de la mairie: she was the first to make ravioles and serve them for tasting on the premises, soon followed by others, such as la mère Fayet.
The First World War dealt a severe blow to this artisan economy, and the ravioleuses gradually disappeared; by 1930, only a few restaurateurs still kept the tradition alive, including Émile Truchet, trained by la mère Fayet. It was he who invented a raviole machine to mechanise production: presented at the Romans-sur-Isère fair in 1953, it was a resounding success and gave production a lasting revival. Professionalisation continued over the following decade — the Royans company, for example, was founded in 1962 — before supermarkets and hypermarkets opened up to the product from the 1990s, driving volumes to more than 5,000 tonnes annually in 2007.
In 1989, the cour d'appel de Grenoble legally recognised the name "Raviole du Dauphiné" following a legal battle over the use of the name between local producers and manufacturers from outside the region. This national protection lapsed in 1995 following a change in legislation; producers then turned to European protection, first obtaining Label Rouge in 1998, guaranteeing strict quality criteria — notably fresh eggs and fresh fromage blanc from Drôme. PGI status enshrined this link to the terroir in 2009: all production stages, from preparing the pasta to packaging, must now take place within the defined geographical area, today spanning the area between Romans-sur-Isère and Saint-Marcellin.
Raviole du Dauphiné is characterised by its small size: each square measures approximately 2 cm on each side and weighs between 1 and 1.5 g. The pasta, which is very thin (approximately 0.7 mm thick, representing at most 55% of the product's weight), is made from soft-wheat flour with a low ash content, fresh eggs, water and vegetable oil. This thinness, typical of soft-wheat flour rather than the durum-wheat semolina used for traditional fresh pasta, gives the raviole an ultra-fast cooking time and a melt-in-the-mouth texture that thicker pasta cannot achieve. PGI specifications require this pasta to be made within the geographical area, guaranteeing its freshness.
The filling accounts for at least 45% of the product's weight: a blend of Comté PDO (AOP) (or Emmental français Est-Central PGI, at least 40% of the filling) and cow's milk fresh fromage blanc (at least 30%), bound with fresh or frozen parsley sautéed in butter (minimum 4% — freeze-dried parsley is prohibited). The fresh eggs and fresh cheese used come from the geographical area or neighbouring départements (Drôme, Isère, Ardèche, Loire, Rhône, Ain, Savoie), following a short-supply-chain approach.
Appearance
Small, plump squares measuring approximately 2 cm on each side, weighing 1 to 1.5 g each; thin, pale pasta made from soft-wheat flour.
Aroma
Discreet when raw, it reveals itself upon cooking with notes of butter and sautéed parsley that perfume the filling.
Taste
A balance between the sweetness of Comté, the creaminess of fresh fromage blanc and the herbal freshness of parsley — a delicate, subtle flavour rather than a powerful one.
Texture
Thin pasta that melts in the mouth when cooked (1 minute for the fresh version, up to 2 minutes for the frozen version); smooth, tender filling.
Fresh PGI ravioles come in sheets of 48 small, pre-cut squares (6×8), weighing between 60 and 65 g per sheet, sold loose or in modified-atmosphere packaging; both versions are stored between 0 and 4 °C with a short use-by date. Frozen versions, authorised by the specifications provided they are produced within the PGI area, must be frozen to the core (-18 °C) in under an hour, at the latest 48 hours after manufacture; their best-before date is a maximum of 12 months.
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Ravioles are served in beurre noisette with a pinch of fleur de sel, baked as a gratin with a touch of crème fraîche, poached in a chicken broth seasoned with herbs, or in a warm "raviole salad" with young salad leaves and a light vinaigrette. A glass of brut Clairette de Die, a sparkling wine from neighbouring Drôme, is the quintessential regional pairing.
Since: 1998
Area covered: Royans-Vercors + Romans-sur-Isère (26 + 38)
Key requirements: Comté PDO + fromage blanc + fresh parsley filling · fresh-egg pasta · all stages in the defined area
Since: 2009
Area covered: Royans-Vercors + Romans-sur-Isère (26 + 38)
Key requirements: Entirely made in the PGI area (pasta, filling, assembly, packaging) · Comté PDO or Emmental français Est-Central PGI filling
Artisanal industry
Artisan
Artisanal industry
Artisan
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Saint Jean presents itself as a 'French pasta maker since 1935'. The company recounts the birth of the raviole du Dauphiné as the meeting of two men: Émile Truchet, a restaurateur from Romans, who in 1935 invented a machine to roll pasta dough thinly — the 'raviolatrice' — and a grandson of a ravioleuse from Saint-Jean-en-Royans, keeper of the family recipe enriched with Comté matured in the fruitières of the neighbouring Jura. Its range includes Ravioles du Dauphiné PGI (IGP), stuffed pasta, pan-fry pasta, crozets and tagliatelle, quenelles and soufflés, ready meals, an organic product range, as well as sauces.
| Address | 44 Av. des Allobroges, 26100 Romans-sur-Isère, France |
| +33 4 75 05 66 70 | |
| saint-jean.fr | |
| Facebook page | |
| @saintjeanfr | |
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Part of the production is certified organic, since 1997. |
