Description
The Poireaux de Créances PGI are a biennial vegetables which derives from a particular type of garlic with oriental origins.
Production Area
The production area of the Poireaux de Créances PGI confines the Créances municipal area, which is part of the canton of Lessay, in the Coutances parish, located in the Manche department of Lower-Normandy.
Production Method
Although it is available the whole year, the leek is above all a winter vegetable very rich in vitamins and minerals. It is a vegetable which grows very easily in the English Channel thanks to the sandy ground which was covered with sea water for a certain period. Since it grows underground and inside it, earth can be found very often, it must be washed carefully before preparing it.
Appearance and Flavour
The Poireaux de Créances PGI has long green leaves which overlap and sheathe at the base a kind of cylinder, whose buried, white and tender part is very appreciated. The leek must be fresh, smooth, with rigid leaves which must not be spotted; the size of the leek does not necessarily indicate its tenderness. It is a high quality product, which has a characteristic taste of nut and walnut.
History
The leek has ancient origins and it was cultivated by the Egyptians and was therefore appreciated that the Kheops Pharaoh offered the leek as a reward to his best warriors. Also the Romans consumed a great quantity and they introduced it in Great Britain where it become the favourite of the Welsh. The legend tells that in the 5th century, Saint David, the patron saint of the Welsh territories, ordered to his soldiers at war against the Saxons to wear one in battle as a symbol of recognition. In France, over the centuries, it became very appreciated as a base of soups with the name of porreau or pourreau and then became known as poireau at the beginning of the 19th century.
Gastronomy
The Poireaux de Créances PGI can be preserved until five days in the refrigerator compartment for vegetables. If they are cooked, they can be preserved two more days in a glass container which must be closed. The leek can be also quickfrozen. In this case it must be cooked some minutes in boiling water, it is then rinsed with cold water, drained and preserved in a suitable bag before putting it in the freezer. The Poireaux de Créances PGI are consumed cooked or raw, after removing the roots of the base, cutting the white part up to the part where the green leaves start, washing them carefully with cold water to remove the earth which remains inside. It can be steamed or immersed in salty boiling water to taste it cold with vinaigrette or mayonnaise; hot, as a side-dish of meat or fish; gratiné, with béchamel sauce. It can be cooked on low heat with butter to prepare tarts and quiches, savoury pies typical of French tradition. The leek is used for soups and cream soups. It can be macerated in oil or vinegar to aromatize the vinaigrette. With the leek, very tasty dishes with low caloric intake can be obtained (27 kcal/100 gr).
Marketing
The product is sold as Poireaux de Créances PGI.
Distinctive Features
The Poireaux de Créances PGI are low calorie vegetables very rich in fibre. It has the same characteristics all the other types of leek have, its distinctive feature is, above all its particular nut taste, deriving from the cultivation in sandy ground and some time covered by sea water.
