LATEST NEWS

This week we received wheels of Raclette and Morbier. We have a quarter wheel of raw milk French Emmental which I could hardly lift up, it weighs 18kgs, trying to cut this into manageable pieces was quite a challenge. In the raw milk, hand crafted Emmental, the holes are large and vary in size. The difference in flavour between a pasteurised Emmental and raw milk one is significant, with more depth and complexity. We also have new stock of Tomme de Savoie, a raw milk cheese aged for 6 months, we have Tomme Crayeuse from the Haute Savoie which has a more delicate flavour and lighter texture.

We have several new cheeses arriving tomorrow. One is a creamy goat’s cheese spread flavoured with truffles, made by the famous Picandou brand from Perigord, where truffles also grow. I sampled this when I visited my supplier in Paris in May and really enjoyed it. This cheese has a delicate flavour and beautiful hint of truffles. (Remember we still have fresh winter truffles in season at the shop.) Another new cheese I sampled is the Tomme de Montagne, this cheese is similar to the Tomme de Savoie, originating in the mountain pastures, the cheese is round with a dry, grey crust and ivory coloured, dense textured centre and subtle flavour. There are plenty of small boxes of Camemberts, Epoisses, Pont l Eveque. There is a 50kg wheel of Comte which has been ripened for a minimum of 16 months in the Fort Saint-Antoine in the Jura near the Swiss border, at an altitude of 1000 metres. The re-purposed fortress contains about 100,000 wheels of cheese. The abandoned fort was bought by Marcel Petite for its location and ideal temperature, which made it perfect for maturing cheeses. This 16month aged Comte is one of the best cheese in its category, and the rich aromas that develop during the maturing process are unique.

The growth of the black winter truffle in South Africa has come through the much hard work since the first efforts were started by the passion of local and international specialists. The spores were introduced from Italy and the ground for the truffle orchards was carefully prepared to ensure the perfect conditions for the truffles to grow. It takes years for the first truffles to develop. The first produce to be certified as the authentic Tuber Melanosporum, came in 2015 and since then the truffle farmers have extended their planting. The best way to serve the truffles is on a neutral flavoured base that will not interfere with their flavour. One of the Presidents of France always liked his truffles freshly sliced, served on a slice of baguette that had been layered with rich butter. Another way is to serve them with mashed potato or freshly made pasta tossed in cream.

In our cheese stock this week we have received the large Camemberts from Normandie and raw milk Brie de Meaux. The Reblochon replacement, the Préféré de nos Montagnes is a similar shape and size to Reblochon, with a slightly gentler flavour We have a new stock of raw milk Swiss Gruyere. We have cheddars from Wales and Ireland and Stilton from England. There are plenty of different types of cheese for you to enjoy.

Back here in our lovely city of Cape Town our new stock of cheese has landed from Paris and hopefully will be cleared into the shop tomorrow during the morning. We will have new stock of the triple cream Delice, Brie with truffle cream layer, Pont l’Eveque, Livarot, lots of Epoisses, Camemberts and many more delicious treats. One new cheese that arrives tomorrow is the Préféré de nos Montagnes a cheese made in the Jura, similar to Reblochon. We also have a new stock of the black label Extra Appenzeller; this has been aged for at least 10 months and has a beautiful deep flavour. We have a new Comte aged 8 months, this one has a fruity taste and gentler flavour that its older brother, the 18-month aged Comte, which is distinctive, with its crystallisation and depth of flavour. Come in and taste something new.

This week we have plenty of beautiful cheese from France in stock. We received new stock of Epoisses in 250g boxes these are pungent and creamy. We have plenty of stock of Vacherousse, Brie from Meaux, ripe Camemberts, Buche de Chevre, pungent St Nectaire and Livarot, Pont l’Eveque, Ossau Iraty, Comte, Cantal, Roquefort, Fourme d Ambert and Bleu D Auvergne. We have Gruyere from Switzerland and Emmental from Germany. There is plenty for you to create a wonderful cheese platter to enjoy on our cold winter evenings. We also received today a new stock of sea salt crystal butter from Brittany. It’s been a while since we could get this particular product, and I’m thrilled its finally arrived.

At our shop we have lots of beautiful products for you to enjoy, I shall be returning with a new range of French biscuits. We have plenty of beautiful French cheese in stock, there are lots of interesting dry goods that we have received from France and plenty of wines. Come in and browse, it’s a
mazing how much stuff we have managed to pack in on our shelves. If you don’t have time to visit , you can browse all our stock online at www.frenchmarket.co.za/shop as we can always deliver to you.

Stocking up at the local “supermarches”, a few miles down the road, in the ancient town of Rochechouart, I wanted to buy everything. The produce comes from local farms and also from other parts of Europe. The dairy section is vast and I had great difficulty in restraining myself from buying everything in sight. This produce was the inspiration for creating my French Market shop, even though it’s challenging to import, as we are located 10,000 miles away from the source, it is worth the effort. You will be glad to know that we can fly produce in regularly. This week we received new stock of 18 month aged Comte, Reblochon, Roquefort, Munster, Brie de Meaux, Morbier, Buche de Chevre and plenty more. My team are on hand to look after you and are manging very well while I am travelling and sourcing new products.

New in stock this week, from a farm in South Africa, we have received Renosterbos, a firm textured goat’s cheese made with 100% full cream milk. The goats are free ranging on the nearby mountains and eat the local fynbos, which gives the cheese a rich and unique flavour. This cheese compares well with the quality of French goat’s cheese from the Loire region. We also have a new stock of Buche de chevre and fresh crottins de chevre from France. Another new cheddar cheese has come from Wales, the Colliery Cheddar, it has a rich flavour and crumbly texture.

In our cheese range we have an array of flavours and textures to tempt you. The Brie de Meaux is runny and full of flavour. The little Camemberts are perfect for making a warming evening dish, bake them in the oven with some garlic and herbs and serve with chunks of crusty baguette. Vacherousse is one of our most popular cheeses, this is a modern creation from the Jura, with a rich creamy centre and light orange crust, the flavour is subtle. In the firmer texture cheeses we have medium flavoured Emmental and Gruyere which are ideal to melt into a fondue. Another cheese that can be added to a fondue is the Tomme de Savoie, a dry crusted cheese that is aged for 6 months with a subtle flavour. For a strong flavour try some of our gooey Epoisses from Burgundy, one of the most pungent cheeses made in France.

It is said that there are more cows than humans in the mountain region of Auvergne. Over two thousand years ago the Gauls raised large dairy herds here, and were famous for their cheese production, even to the point where the Roman, Pliny the Elder, wrote about their cheese. The oldest of these is the Cantal cheese named after the Cantal Mountains. This is a cheese that comes in a cylindrical shape, the “Petit” (small) Cantal weighs 8kgs, which we stock, and a regular sized Cantal is 40kgs. The cheese has a dry crust with a pungent aroma. The “Entre Deux” version (mid season) has a tart and buttery taste, the colour is a lovely golden shade. It is similar in style to a Cheddar. (The French insist that they taught the English how to make Cheddar). Serve Cantal with some crusty baguette, an onion preserve, and a bottle of Cotes du Rhone Pavillon St Pierre from our shop.

In our cheese range we have lots of individual cheeses which a
re ideal for your Easter entertaining. New in stock we have the small boxes of triple cream Delice with a layer of truffle. The St Marcellin, a small unpasteurised cow milk cheese with a distinctive flavour. We have Crottins from Chavignol, a small hard ball of goat’s milk cheese with lots of flavour. We have Buche de chevre, the white log shaped goat’s cheese with a crumbly centre and soft outside crust. We have tubs of Epoisses from Burgundy, small Munsters from Alsace, Comte aged 18 months, Morbier, Tomme de Savoie, lots of Camembert in different size boxes, Pont l Eveque, strong Livarot, lots of gooey Brie from Meaux, tart flavoured Cantal Entre Deux, Ossau Iraty sheep’s milk cheese from the Basque region. There is creamy Vacherousse and Delice triple cream and mild flavoured St Paulin. In the blue cheeses we have Fourme d’Ambert, Bleu d Auvergne, Gorgonzola and lots of Stilton.

This week our new cheese stocks also flew in, from Paris, and hopefully will land safely in Cape Town tomorrow. We expect to have all our favourites in stock for the Easter weekend celebrations. We will have lots of truly delicious cheese on hand. Please contact me if you would like us to prepare a special cheese platter for you to serve when you celebrate Easter. Right now, we have lots of ripe Brie layered with truffle cream, so we have this on a special discount. If you have not tasted it, now is the time to come in ask for a taste. There are plenty of other cheeses which you can taste as well.

In our cheese range this week I can recommend some of our delicious Brie with a thick layer of truffle cream running through it. It tastes amazing. Also, in the truffle cheese range we have the Tomme au truffe from the mountains, dried black truffle pieces are combined in this dense textured wheel of cheese. Melting cheese is back in fashion now that summer is ending and the evening start cooling down, this is a good time to enjoy a Tartiflette made with a Reblochon sliced over the top of potatoes, garlic and bacon and baked in the oven.  

In our goat’s cheese range, we have new stock of Buche de chèvre, a white log shaped cheese that has a white crust and crumbly white centre. We also have fresh goat’s cheese crottins, these are textured like velvet with a delicate flavour. We also have some of the ash dusted St Maure cheese from the Loire valley, and a firm textured mild flavoured goat’s cheese from Holland.

For your holiday al fresco picnic lunch, I would recommend a platter of traditional French terrines from our range which includes a variety of pork and duck meat and duck liver mousse. Plus, a selection of our individual regional cheeses which are packed in their own boxes, such as Camembert, Pont l’Eveque, Livarot from Normandie, Munster from Alsace and Epoisses from Burgundy served with some freshly baked, sour dough baguette. Pair these with a light chilled rose wine from Gerard Bertrand on the Mediterranean coast or a Louis Latour Chardonnay from
 the Vars at the southern end of Burgundy.

Our newest cheese to arrive from France is the Tomme des Croquants. A Tomme is general name for a small wheel of mountain cheese. The Croquants is a reference to crunchy nuts as in walnuts. This is because the cheese is washed in the liqueur of walnuts which comes from Sarlat. This cheese has a firm texture and a beautiful flavour from the walnut liqueur. You definitely have to come and try some. Another interesting cheese that arrived is the washed rind Livarot. This cheese is named after its town of origin in the Aude region of Normandie. Livarot has been made since the 1500s with milk from the local Normande cows. The cheese has an orange crust, a soft texture and a pungent aroma. It has a distinctive triple reed band around the cheese, making it resemble a “Kepi” the French Army Colonel’s hat which gave rise to its nickname “The Colonel”.

In our little shop we spread the love of La Francophonie with our collection of the best French cheeses and foods available in Cape Town. We had 150kgs of cheese fly in from Paris today and hopefully it will be cleared through formalities and in our shop sometime tomorrow. We will have the usual suspects…Brie with a layer of truffle cream, Vacherousse, Triple cream delice, Morbier and Comte from the Jura, Brie from Meaux, Camembert, Pont l’Eveque and Livarot from Normandie, Fresh goat’s cheese crottin and ash-dusted buche from the Loire, Cantal, Fourme d Ambert and Bleu from the Auvergne, Camembert with garlic and herbs for baking, Emmental from the Vosges, Munster from Alsace plus plenty more.

One such example of a unique produced French cheese, is Morbier AOC. Produced around the small village of Morbier in the Franche-Comte close to the Swiss border. This cheese is made with milk from the Montbéliard cows. The cows graze on rich pastures which gives a depth of creaminess to their milk. In the old days Morbier was made with the evening miking curds laid out in a wide vat. The curds were sprinkled with wood ash to keep the flies away. The next morning this would be topped with a layer of curds from the morning milking. Leaving the ash line through the centre, giving the Morbier a distinctive flavour. The texture is medium firm, and the crust is dry. The Morbier is aged for over 6 months which adds to its unique taste. The finished wheel is about 7kgs. Come in and taste some and you will pick up the unique flavour.

Blue cheese pairs well with the sweet flavour of figs. We have received 4 wheels of award winning Clawsons Stilton from England, this Stilton has a crumbly texture and intense flavour. In England, to preserve the Stilton when it gets too crumbly, some port is added to the cheese, this creates an amazing combination of flavours. Another strong flavoured sheep’s milk blue cheese from France is Roquefort. This unique softer textured cheese pairs well with a sweet wine such as Sauternes, a white wine made from semillon grapes in Bordeaux. We also have Bleu d’Auvergne and Fourme d’Ambert which are more subtle blue cheeses.

We also have lots of delicious cheese to spoil your loved one. The favourite soft and creamy cheeses are Delice triple cream , the Vacherousse and The Brie with a layer of truffle cream. The favourite of the hard cheeses are Comte, Beaufort and Emmental. The favourite blue cheese is Roquefort and the favourite smelly cheese is the Epoisses. Combine these with freshly baked bread or Italian crackers. Our fresh Evita figs have arrived from The Figary, they are delicious eaten freshly picked from the tree and served alongside the cheese.

For a rose-coloured Valentine’s cocktail I suggest, a Kir Royale. Mix a teaspoonful of Crème de Cassis (a blackcurrant liqueur from Dijon available in our shop) in a glass of Champagne this gives a beautiful rose colour. If you prefer a slightly sweeter cocktail try mixing some Red Vermouth with a glass of Crémant d’Alsace, to create a beautiful frothy red sparkling wine.

In other news, we have lots of cheese flying in from Paris this weekend and it should be on the shelves in the next couple of days. We have restocked on all the favourites, Brie de Meaux, Camembert and Pont L’Eveque from Normandie, Delice triple cream, Vacherousse and Brie layered with truffle cream, Munster and Epoisses, Tomme de Savoie, Morbier, Raclette, Beaufort d’Ete and Tete de Moine to mention just a few.

From the Pyrenees we have the hand crafted Ossau-Iraty sheep’s milk cheese which has a dry crust and medium firm centre with a distinctive but subtle flavour. From across the Pyrenees in Spain, another popular sheep’s milk cheese is the Manchego which is made with pasteurised milk and aged for 6months. The flavour is milder than the Ossau-Iraty. Our third sheep’s milk cheese Roquefort which has an intense taste and salty flavour. Considered by the French to be the King of all blue cheeses.