Apples and Cider

Apple orchards are a familiar feature of the Norman countryside, and their fruit a fundamental ingredient in the region's gastronomic repertoire.

No self-respecting pâtisserie would be without its "tarte normande" (apple tart), and every country lane seems to sport an ici, vente de cidre (cider sold here) sign.

Much of the harvest forms the raw material for cider and calvados, an apple brandy aged in oak barrels for at last two years.
A local brew is also made from pears, and known as poiré (pery).