About Us
'The most authentic saucisson in the country', called by Gourmet Traveller Magazine. Produced by La Bastide since 2009, owned by Jean-marc Amar, ex French executive chef, who learned the art of making saucisson from relatives while he was growing up in France's Languedoc region.
What French living in Australia miss most about their homeland and the inevitable answer is saucisson. Eaten with bread, cheese and a glass of wine, saucisson is a slow-aged, air-dried pork sausage that's a staple of French food culture. It is just as important to the French as bread, wine and cheese. Despite the rich choice of Italian, German, Polish and Spanish smallgoods in Australia, saucisson is surprisingly hard to find. And there's no substitute for the real thing. That's the very original reason for Jean-Marc to start his company.
Our saucisson comes from Berkshire pigs, fed in NSW. They are bred in a free range way where they do roam free during the day and put inside at night to be safe from predators.
Also, our products are leaner than ones in France. "We had to change the proportion of fat to meat," Amar says. "In France, they use 30 per cent fat and 70 per cent meat. Here in Australia, more and more people are worried about fat so we use maxi up to 22% per cent fat."
The meat and fat is coarsely chopped and the only additives are salt, black peppercorns, Sodium nitrite (251) and a starter culture. Then the mix is put into natural casings and tired with string and hung and dried. The saucisson sec hang for two months and, about three weeks into the process, their distinctive bloom or mould appears, bringing a rich mushroomy flavour to the meat.
"You slice it on a meat platter with jambon cru and Viande des Grisons and serve it with boiled potatoes covered with melted raclette, cornichons and tiny onions," Amar says.
La Bastide de France supplies shops and restaurants throughout Australia and is the favourite saucisson supplier for many Sydney and Melbourne restaurants, such as Bistro Thierry, L'Etoile, La Brasserie, Tabou, Tastevin, Bar H etc.
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Here are some articles about us:'The most authentic saucisson in the country'. - from Gourmet Traveller Magazine.
'The latest food to fuel our French love affair has plenty of flavour and tradition.' - from Sydney Morning Herald