Chez Fouquet (Les Rillettes de Blois)
Rillettes — slow-cooked, shredded pork fat-preserved in a pot — are the Loire Valley's most beloved charcuterie, and Chez Fouquet on Rue Foulerie has been making them by hand since 1889, supplying chefs and locals alike from a tiny, aromatic shop.
What makes these rillettes different
Fouquet uses heritage Touraine pigs slow-cooked for eight hours in their own fat with a restrained seasoning of sea salt, white pepper and a splash of Vouvray wine. The result is coarser and more savoury than the smooth Sarthe style — spreadable but with real texture, best eaten at room temperature on sourdough.
The shop also sells rillons (cubes of pork belly caramelised in lard), andouillette de Blois and a house-made pâté de gibier using Sologne game. Buy a mixed selection for a self-assembled picnic; the staff wrap everything in wax paper and twine with practised speed.
Where to eat them properly
For a sit-down experience, walk two minutes to L'Orangerie du Château on Avenue Jean Laigret, the château's own restaurant, where chef Jean-Marc Molveaux plates rillettes with cornichons and toasted Poilâne-style bread as a starter for €9 — a simple, honest dish executed with care.
Alternatively, take your Fouquet purchases to the grassy Jardin de l'Évêché (the Bishop's Garden, behind the cathedral) for an al-fresco lunch with a view of the Loire. The garden has shaded benches and is almost always uncrowded on weekday afternoons.
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