RTo know the pâté glamorous is to have the same taste for oxymorons as Corneille and his obscure clarity. In any case, this is the challenge that Jean-Baptiste Gougy, Romain Pajaro and Yohan Labarrère, the three partners of the company Les Conservistes, born in Saint-Sever in 2017, have set themselves. well-thought-out packaging and recipe names reminiscent of those of the perfumes of the great couturiers, pâtés and rillettes tend towards an elegance which, at first glance, did not stick to them.
“The idea was to differentiate ourselves and dust off traditional canning, with pretty boxes with a slightly refined, minimalist, modern look,” summarizes Jean-Baptiste Gougy.
Fort ancrage local
From the top of this pedestal, the product boasts a very local stamp. “Behind each recipe, there is a local producer who is highlighted,” explains Jean-Baptiste Gougy. The idea was to work with local actors. » The pig of the Black Prince of Biscay, from the La Bruyère farm in Pissos, the armagnac from the Laballe estate, the peppers from the Malnou house in Béarn, the foie gras from the Brougnon farm in Caupenne, the chicken from Frères Poulet in Ychoux or the beer from the Lugazaut brewery in Vielle-Soubiran. “There is a common base, it is the Chez les Landais association, born at the Salon de l’agriculture,” explains Yohan Labarrère. Pig, duck and Armagnac producers are among them. We have a pretty strong bond with them. In addition to being excellent producers, they are friends. »
“In addition to being excellent producers, they are friends”
Enough to seduce the Chamber of Trades and Crafts, which selected the Saint-Séverine company to participate in MIF Expo, the made in France trade fair, from November 8 to 13 in Paris. An experience that the partners already had two years ago. Except for one detail. “In 2022, we took a stand ourselves,” emphasizes Yohan Labarrère. This year, we were selected by the Chamber of Trades: it’s obviously rewarding. » Romain Pajaro being held in Bordeaux by other professional obligations, only Yohan Labarrère and Jean-Baptiste Gougy will be present at Porte de Versailles.
Visitors will be able to discover the nine recipes – five pâtés and four rillettes – created by these three business school graduates who knew how to educate their palates. Because if they entrusted the manufacturing to a cannery in Hagetmau – which produces 80,000 cans per year – the three friends put their grain of salt in each of them. “These are our joke creations,” insists Jean-Baptiste Gougy. You have to know that basically, we are not from this environment. We went around to the grandmothers, to all the friends, to find out who put what in their pâté, how, why. And little by little, we did tests. We ate some, pâté! We wondered what the egg, the onion, the flour, the breadcrumbs brought… As we tasted, we removed ingredients. We came back to something very simple – salt, pepper, garlic – but we developed our own recipe with our own weights. » “With the beer pâté, for example, we didn’t know at all where we were going,” adds Yohan Labarrère. It gives something excellent and very creamy. »
“We went around to the grandmothers, to all the friends, to find out who put what in their pâté, how, why”
Another recipe that stands out: pork rillette. A preparation which “is not in the DNA here”, and into which the Conservists wanted to inject a “Landes marker”. What's better than Landes pine? “We developed the recipe with a charcutier friend, “Arnaud 65”, who is Parisian. In spring, we go and look for pine buds, dry them and rehydrate them in armagnac. During cooking, we put them in infusion socks which we place in the middle of the stuffing, it gives a floral side,” notes Jean-Baptiste Gougy. Also note the duck rillette with fig wood smoked chili. “There is a real interest, it brings a slightly veiled side to the attack,” analyzes Yohan Labarrère.
Hands on the dough
The three partners also pitch in in the true sense of the term. “For the rillettes, we shred everything by hand because if we use the machine, it completely breaks the fiber. We also fill the boxes by hand. For foie gras pâtés, it's the same. We add value when there is manual work because we want to do it our way. »
To top it all off and add a layer of credibility, Jean-Baptiste Gougy completed a CAP as a butcher and charcutier at the CFA in Mont-de-Marsan two years ago, to “get up to speed”. “And if one day we want to have our workshop, we need a diploma in food,” he emphasizes. We anticipated. »
Before that, Les Conservistes, who for the moment have their offices at 9 Cowork, a shared work space in Saint-Sever, will set up shop in the Péré area, where they have purchased a building. “We are going to do storage there and base our offices there by April. »
The three partners thus sharpen their South-West style a little more. “We have this bias to work more locally. We organize the Tartine festival in April, with the Tartine Social Club, we run a bodega during the Saint-Sever celebrations. We try to be active enough locally so that people know us and talk about us. We bring something else: conviviality and innovation. »
To be found in December in a pop-up shop with a wine bar in Saint-Sever and at the Christmas market in Mont-de-Marsan.
