BERRY, THE CHEF’S NATIVE LAND

For this new edition of our Discovery Evening, we asked our head chef, Jérémy, who has been working at French Living for almost thirty years, to create a menu inspired by his native region, Le Berry. Born on a Berrichonne farm, his cooking is rooted in rural traditions and throughout this evening you will discover ancient recipes and ingredients deeply tied to local heritage. An evening well worth the detour, and somewhat niche, as this is a region that even many French people know little about. Yet, at the heart of France, Berry reveals a true gastronomic richness shaped by its respect for tradition and nature.

Berry is in fact an historical region and no longer exists as an administrative entity today. Lying partly within the Loire Valley, it corresponds today to the departments of Indre and Cher, once forming the historic province of Berry. Considered one of the oldest French terroirs, Berry, stretches from agricultural plains in the north, to hills and rivers in its centre and rich livestock farming in the west, with lakes and marshlands.

Its historic capital, Bourges, has been an important city since Roman times and is known today for its remarkable heritage, notably its UNESCO-listed cathedral. It was also home to Jacques Cœur, one of the greatest merchants and the richest man of the Middle Ages, also the first in France to trade with the Levant. Treasurer to the King, he helped finance the end of the Hundred Years’ War and built the Palais Jacques Cœur, a masterpiece of civil Gothic architecture, most remarkable building of the 15th century in Bourges. Further north, the village of Aubigny-sur-Nère was granted to the Scottish allies of the French crown during the Hundred Year’s war, marking a lasting bond between the two kingdoms. This connection became part of one of the oldest alliances in Europe: the “Auld Alliance”. To this day, this shared history is still celebrated in Aubigny every year around the 14th of July, where pipe bands fill the streets, alongside parades in kilts, medieval markets and whisky tastings.

The culture of this region is deeply rooted in its customs and its land. In the past, villagers would organise wine-filled wheelbarrow races and harvesting competitions, and sing to lift spirits through the labour, each village with its own, sometimes cheeky, verses. Today, villages still celebrate the harvest and the vendanges with festivals of music, dancing and rural theatre. 

It is also a land of legends and folklore. Old trees were seen as sacred and magical, serving as gathering places, even as village courts. Some of these centenary trees are still preserved by communes and associations today, remaining at the heart of local life, with celebrations, dances and markets often held around an old oak or tilleul. This heritage is reflected in figures such as George Sand, who lived at the Domaine de Nohant, now known as the Maison de George Sand, where she hosted artists, notably Frédéric Chopin, who composed some of his works there. She spent a lot of time listening to villagers speak about their lives and beliefs, retelling these stories in her novels and preserving rural oral traditions, including beliefs in spirits, magic and witchcraft. Through her writings, as in Légendes rustiques (1858), Berry reveals a world where ancient beliefs still linger, where marsh lights flicker like wandering souls, werewolves roam haunted forests and where the unexplainable is often entrusted to the realm of sorcery. She portrayed witchcraft not as something frightening or fantastical, but as a way of life deeply connected to nature and to the knowledge of plants and the land, in contrast with modern thinking and science. Her witch figures, as in La Petite Fadette (1849), hold important positions within the community; they are healers and counsellors, rooted in nature and peasant knowledge. Through them, Sand expresses an ecological vision ahead of her time, in which human beings remain closely tied to nature, while also reflecting a progressive view of women’s place within society.

The menu we present for this special evening reflects all these aspects of the region, its customs, its beliefs, and its terroir.