Laure Camus & Emilie Bertrand - J'Adore restaurant & Ferme of Fontanille
Laure Camus & Émilie Bertrand
Cultivating the link between gastronomy and local produce.
Laure is the chef at the "J'adore" restaurant in Saint-Clément-de-Rivière; Émilie has set up her own free-range pig farm in Notre-Dame-de-Londres. Here's a cross-section of two women with a passion for local produce and gastronomy.
What brought you together?
Laure: For our restaurant, working with local
with local producers is essential. Émilie and I hit it off straight away. Probably because our two careers in the Grand Pic Saint-Loup have something in common, but also because we have the same high standards.
Émilie: I had built my project around direct sales: markets and private customers. Laure has given me a complementary, more structured vision that has stabilised my business. It's also a great way of highlighting my products.
Why pigs?
Émilie: Once I'd finished my agricultural studies, I did my first work placements with free-range farmers; I immediately loved the animals, the products and also life in the great outdoors!
Laure: It's an underrated meat, but it's my job to bring out the best in these products. By mastering the cutting, low-temperature cooking, seasoning, etc., we can achieve a mellowness and unexpected flavours, while preserving the excellent nutritional qualities. Pork is just one example. We work with a wide range of products, always with the idea of preserving our local ecosystem.
Markets and the farmers' day in Saint-Jean-de-Buèges at the start of the year are great opportunities to meet people. For example, we've created recipes with snail farmers in the Hérault region, or a dessert made with fresh goat's cheese, figs and apples following a meeting with Christelle, a farmer at Frouzet; another way of using a raw, authentic product for the pleasure of the plate.
