EN Official Journal of the European Union C 68/48

Publication of an application pursuant to Article 50(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs

2013/C 68/05

This publication confers the right to object to the application pursuant to Article 51 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1).

SINGLE DOCUMENT

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 510/2006

on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs (2)

‘GÂCHE VENDÉENNE’

EC No: FR-PGI-0005-0860-23.02.2011

PGI ( X ) PDO ( )

1. Name:

‘Gâche vendéenne’

2. Member State or Third Country:

France

3. Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff:

3.1. Type of product:

Class 2.4. Bread, pastry, cakes, confectionery, biscuits and other bakers' wares

3.2. Description of product to which the name in (1) applies:

‘Gâche vendéenne’ is a viennoiserie presented fresh and whole. It is always oval in shape. Its crust is fine and golden and has a lengthwise slit. The colour of the crust is lighter along the slit and darker around it.

The crumb of ‘Gâche vendéenne’ is tight and evenly coloured. It has a melting and soft texture in the mouth and a milky taste. There are particularly pronounced aromas of fresh cream and butter. They may be accompanied by vanilla and orange-blossom aromas and enhanced by optionally adding alcohol during the production process.

‘Gâche vendéenne’ is packaged unsliced and individually before marketing. It weighs a minimum of 300 g. It may not be made from frozen pieces of dough.

3.3. Raw materials (for processed products only):

Only the following raw materials may be used in the recipe for ‘Gâche vendéenne’. Their characteristics and incorporation rates are described below.

Raw materials Incorporation rates and characteristics Flour 42 % minimum, including flour for the starter Bread-making-quality wheat flour of type 55 minimum Baking capacity of at least W = 200 The total protein content must be at least 10,5 %. Authorised additions to flour: gluten, wheat malt flour: 0,3 % maximum; soya flour: 0,3 % maximum; ascorbic acid: 300 mg/kg maximum Addition of flour improvers: not allowed Eggs 10 % minimum Fresh eggs or fresh, whole liquid egg with a minimum of 23 % dry extract Butter 10 % minimum Fresh or concentrated butter expressed as reconstituted butter Fresh cream 5 % minimum Fresh cream containing a minimum of 30 % fat Sugar 10 % minimum. Sucrose and/or invert sugar Starter Obligatory. The starter is produced in special production facilities. Fresh baker’s yeast 2 % maximum Sea salt 0,8 % minimum to 1 % maximum Flavourings and alcohols Optional If used: — alcohols at 40° minimum — flavourings: natural or nature-identical vanilla flavouring, orange-blossom water Milk, water 10 % maximum, including milk and water for the starter

3.4. Feed (for products of animal origin only):

—

3.5. Specific steps in production that must take place in the defined geographical area:

‘Gâche vendéenne’ is produced solely in the defined geographical area.

3.6. Specific rules on slicing, grating, packaging, etc.:

‘Gâche vendéenne’ must be packaged in the geographical area. This requirement guarantees the freshness of the product by limiting drying out. At the same time, the quality of the product is safeguarded, because rapid packaging prevents alterations to the aromas of butter and fresh cream, which are characteristic of the product. Therefore, the product must be packaged in a non-perforated bag immediately after baking and not later than two and a half hours in order to allow for the necessary cooling.

3.7. Specific rules concerning labelling:

The labelling of ‘Gâche vendéenne’ includes the following information:

— the name of the PGI: ‘Gâche vendéenne’,

— the name and address of the certifying body,

— the European Union’s PGI logo or the words ‘Indication Géographique Protégée’.

4. Concise definition of the geographical area:

The geographical area in question is as follows.

Department of Vendée: all the cantons of the department

Department of Loire-Atlantique: the entire territory of the department below the Loire, i.e. the cantons of: Clisson, Aigrefeuille sur Maine, Légé, Machecoul, Saint-Philbert de Grand Lieu, Bourgneuf en Retz, Pornic, Paimboeuf, Saint-Père-en-Retz, Le Pellerin, Bouaye, Rezé, Vertou, Basse-Goulaine, Vallet, Le Loroux-Bottereau, Nantes (the part south of the Loire), Saint-Herblain-Ouest-Indre (the part south of the Loire)

Department of Maine et Loire: the entire territory of the department below the Loire (up to Saumur), i.e. the cantons of: Champtoceaux, Montevrault, Beaupréau, Montfaucon, Cholet, Cholet 1, Cholet 2, Cholet 3, Chemillé, Saint-Florent-Le-Vieil, Vihiers, Montreuil-Bellay, Saumur, Saumur Sud, Doué-la-Fontaine, Gennes, Ponts-de-Cé, Thouarcé

Department of Deux-Sèvres: the cantons of: Mauléon, Argenton-Château, Bressuire, Cerizay, Montcoutant, Parthenay, Secondigny, Coulonges-sur-l’Autize, Mazières-en-Gâtine, Champdeniers, Saint-Maixent, Niort, Fontenay-Rohan-Rohan, Mauzé-sur-le-Mignon, Thouars, Saint-Varent, Prahecq

Department of Charente-Maritime: the cantons of: Marans, Courçon, La Rochelle, La Jarrie, Surgères, Aigrefeuille-d’Aunis, Tonnay-Charente, Rochefort

5. Link with the geographical area:

5.1. Specificity of the geographical area:

The geographical area consists of the Department of Vendée and all of the Departments of Loire-Atlantique and Maine-et-Loire south of the Loire but also of the western part of Deux-Sèvres and the northern part of Charente-Maritime.

It corresponds to the traditional production area of ‘Gâche vendéenne’, home to a great number of viennoiserie producers that regularly make ‘Gâche vendéenne’ in large quantities and provide detailed information on this PGI.

Human factors

The production of ‘Gâche vendéenne’ today continues the home production associated with festive traditions around the bocage vendéen: the Easter cake, or ‘pacaude’, and the wedding cake, an established tradition dating back to the 19th century or even earlier.

Kneaded on Good Friday and baked on Easter Saturday, Catholics ate the ‘pacaude’ after they returned from Easter mass. Starting in 1920, the family production of ‘Gâche vendéenne’ was taken over by pastry cooks, who had moved to rural areas a half a century earlier.

‘Gâche vendéenne’ is made according to local know-how through slow kneading and controlled fermentation of the dough and by shaping the dough into an oval.

Fermentation is always divided into two phases. The first is called ‘pointage’ and takes place between the end of the kneading and the beginning of the shaping phase. The second is called ‘apprêt’ and takes place between shaping and baking.

The producers, who have different production structures, can carry out fermentation (pousse) in one of two ways: ‘pousse directe’ for a minimum of four hours or ‘pousse dirigée’ for a maximum of 24 hours. The long process is better suited to artisan bakers, who can carry out the ‘pousse’ partly in a cold room and bake the product in several batches. In both types of fermentation, it is essential to carefully maintain the natural activity of the ferments in order to obtain a final product of identical quality. The fermentation is based on the activity of lactic ferments and on the use of a starter produced in special production facilities and of baker’s yeast.

As Vendée is a historically important milk-producing region, it is natural to include cream in the ingredients of ‘Gâche vendéenne’. The production of the ‘Beurre Charente-Poitou’ PDO in the geographical area of ‘Gâche vendéenne’ is further evidence of the tradition of producing fresh cream.

5.2. Specificity of the product:

It is above all the presentation of ‘Gâche vendéenne’ that distinguishes it from other viennoiserie products and from other vendéens cakes: it is oval and has a lengthwise slit on the upper side.

Its crumb is tight, compact and very different from that of the ‘Brioche vendéenne’, which is much lighter, and it comes apart easily. It has a melting and soft texture in the mouth and a milky taste.

Indeed, ‘Gâche vendéenne’ is richer in fresh cream, butter, eggs and sugar. Fresh cream gives ‘Gâche vendéenne’ particularly pronounced milky aromas of fresh cream and butter.

The mandatory use of fresh cream is key to its reputation and the reason why it was traditionally consumed during Easter, a time when people wanted finer products.

5.3. Causal link between the geographical area and the quality or characteristics of the product (for PDO) or a specific quality, the reputation or other characteristic of the product (for PGI):

The link to the geographical origin of ‘Gâche vendéenne’ is based on the quality of the product and on its ancient and historical reputation.

5.3.1. Quality of the product

The quality and specificity of ‘Gâche vendéenne’ is explained by the know-how developed by the producers over the years. The dough, which is kneaded slowly but rises sufficiently owing to the combined action of the starter and the yeast, gives ‘Gâche vendéenne’ a typically tight crumb.

The combined effect of the two fermentation stages, ‘pointage’ and ‘apprêt’, results in the aromas and specific texture of ‘Gâche vendéenne’.

Fresh cream, an essential part of the recipe for ‘Gâche vendéenne’, is used because it is produced widely in the region and because people want to make a rich cake for the religious holidays. It gives ‘Gâche vendéenne’ milky aromas.

The know-how developed by the vendéen producers as well as their dynamism made it possible to expand the production of ‘Gâche vendéenne’. Thus, home production was gradually transformed into professional production but its specificities were preserved.

The professional producers wanted to keep a subtle balance between tradition and modernity in order to preserve the authenticity of this product, which is solidly anchored in ancestral traditions.

Traditions together with the bakers’ know-how helped to develop and promote the image and reputation of ‘Gâche vendéenne’. By safeguarding traditions in this way, the producers of ‘Gâche vendéenne’ have turned it into a pillar of the region’s culinary heritage.

5.3.2. Reputation

The tradition of eating ‘Gâche vendéenne’ during Easter is found throughout the bocage vendéen.

In addition to these established customs, the product is widely produced and consumed in the area. ‘Gâche vendéenne’ used to be made mainly by housewives but its production was later taken up by artisan bakers. As a result, the product started being consumed all year round and it can now be found throughout France and even abroad.

As a result of the dynamism of the different vendéens operators, ‘Gâche vendéenne’ is now sold throughout the year in bakeries and in the baked goods counters of supermarkets.

The original recipe for ‘Gâche vendéenne’ confers on it the status of traditional viennoiserie, side by side with ‘Brioche vendéenne’, in particular.

Several works classify ‘Gâche vendéenne’ as a traditional regional product. The book Produits du terroir et recettes traditionnelles de Vendée (2003) refers to the long tradition of producing brioches in Vendée. In his book Pains et gâteaux traditionnels de Vendée (1999), Jean Pierre Bertrand explains the origin of the term ‘Gâche’ and provides a traditional recipe.

The product’s reputation is thus well linked to its name and attributable to the geographical area. The different elements taken together confer on ‘Gâche vendéenne’ a special position in the world of brioches.

Reference to publication of the specification:

(Article 5(7) of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 (3))

https://www.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/CDCIGPGachevendeenneV2.pdf

(1) OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1.

(2) OJ L 93, 31.3.2006, p. 12. Replaced by Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs.

(3) See footnote 2.