Description
The Volailles de Challans PGI include winged animals like chickens and pullets, young hens,which have not yet laid eggs, capons, guinea hens, guinea hen capons, ducks, geese, quails and turkeys. They are all slow-raising breeds.
Production Area
The production area of Volailles de Challans PGI covers the northern cantons of Vendée, in addition to the neighbouring cantons of Loire-Atlantique, Maine-et-Loire and Deux-Sèvres in the regions Pays-de-la-Loire and Poitou-Charentes.
Production Method
There are specific production regulations for every breed of Volailles de Challans PGI, with regard to the number of animals for indoor breeding, the area required for open air paths, the cereal-based diet, the minimum age for butchering and the related precautions and marketing rules are stated. For all the various breeds from the designation, slaughtering must take place at an age close to the sexual maturity of the winged animals, excluding capons.
Appearance and Flavour
Volailles de Challans PGI have a common characteristic, which is represented by the unmistakable compact consistency of fowl with high-level organoleptic features.
History
The history of Volailles de Challans PGI is linked to the tradition of winged animal breeding in the production area, whose existence has been documented since the beginning of the 19th century in the region farms. Since then, the Challans region has been famous thanks to its black chicken breed and the city marketplace has been well-known due to the exchanges and sales of all types of winged animals.
Gastronomy
Volailles de Challans PGI can be conserved for about 10 days in the refrigerator, and for maximum 14 days after butchering as regards vacuum-packed slices or with protected atmosphere, if stored in the refrigerator. Their fowl is ideal to prepare tasteful and refined second courses. Above all guinea hens, guinea-hen capons, ducks and turkeys are required for Christmas and New Year feasts. The fowl is often combined with boiled vegetables and legumes. The dishes cooked with these fowls are generally rather elaborated and complex. They require long cooking with the addition of sauces and stuffing. Truffled stuffing is used, sometimes also enriched with sour cream, chestnuts and dry fruits. The famous ducks of Challans de Vendée have made famous the Tour d'Argent restaurant in Paris where they have been served well-plump and "roasted at the blood drop" since the half of the 19th century.
Marketing
The Volailles de Challans PGI include different types of products, depending on the specific varieties of poultry of the denomination which are individually written on the package. Amongst these, there are poulet (blanc, jaune and noir), dinde, pintade, canard, chapon, caille, poularde, oie (white, yellow and black chicken, turkey, guinea hen, duck, capon, quail, pullets, goose). It is sold whole, both fresh and frozen, with or without head, ready to be cooked, boneless or in slices, packed in suitable trays with protected atmosphere to guarantee a longer conservation and keep unaltered the organoleptic features of fowl. They are rigorously labelled to enable their traceability.
Distinctive Features
The higher quality of Volailles de Challans PGI is due to the selection of crossbreeds, to the diet and the special type of breeding in the open air which is linked to the climatic characteristics of the land.
