Bonjour French Market friends.
In the vineyards in France the harvest has been completed, the vine leaves are turning russet and the fermenting juice is safely stored in the cellars around the country. According to the latest statistics the production of the 2022 vintage, which was marked by drought and heatwaves, is anticipated to be much higher than recent years, with an expected volume of 44.6 million hectolitres. That is an insane amount of wine in the making.
One of the first wines that will be raced around the world will be the Nouveau Beaujolais, the first release of the 2022 vintage Gamay wine from southern Burgundy. After a gap of two years, the celebration of the Nouveau Beaujolais will take place in South Africa in the 3rd week of November. FSACCI, the French South African Chamber of Commerce is hosting two events in JNB and CPT on 17November, to celebrate the arrival of the Nouveau Beaujolais. Do contact me for more details, if you are interested in attending one of the events and I can forward the contact information.
I was looking back at my newsletter sent about the same date two years ago, it seems incredible that the norm then was wearing masks, curfews and being isolated at home. Here in Cape Town, our Summer season is starting with lovely warm sunny days, despite the challenges of the power cuts, there is a positive mood as we see the return of tourists from all over the world, whom we need to rebuild our local economy. Now the norm is having battery charger back-ups at home, to run our wifis, laptops and rechargeable lights. Fortunately, at Gardens Shopping Centre the building has power supplied by a generator so you can always come in and shop or relax and have a coffee. The Centre is now open Mon – Fri 9 am to 7pm Sat 9-5 and Sun 9-2.
In our cheese stocks this week we have a beautiful Brie de Meaux in stock, it is deliciously gooey and tasty but not too pungent. We have a gentle flavoured pasteurised Camembert and raw milk Camemberts which have a deeper flavour and stronger aroma. There are plenty of firm textured mountain cheeses from around the alpine regions of France and blue cheese from the Auvergne. We have goat’s milk Buche de chevre from the Loire region and washed rind Pont l’Eveque from Normandie.
The artichoke season has finally ended, it lasted for about 8 weeks, during which time we sold approximately 150kgs, particularly to Italian families. Now the broad bean season has started, this week we have a stock of the biggest broad beans I have ever seen, these were grown by one of our clients in their garden.
For my recipe th
is week, I decided to share a calves liver and apple dish flambeed in Calvados, the apple brandy from Normandy. The flavour of the apples cooked in butter and the Caves liver pair well. It is really an easy dish to make, see recipe below. The Christian Drouin Calvados is available at our French Market shop in Cape Town. ( Image of Christian Drouin and Yours Truly on his visit to our shop in Cape Town)
Wishing you a warm and sunny weekend.
Regards
Suzanne and The French Market Team.
French Market Recipe 2022 #40
Foie de veau au pomme et Calvados / Calf’s liver with apple and Calvados
Ingredients
• 4 x 100g slices of caves liver (usually available at Hartliefs)
• 2 large Granny Smith apples
• 1 cup flour
• 2 large lemons
• 100g butter
• 30ml Christian Drouin calvados
• Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Ask the butcher to trim the skin from the liver
2. Peel the apples and remove the core, slice thinly
3. Grate the zest from the lemons then squeeze the juice into a cup
4. Add a pinch of salt and some freshly ground pepper to the flour, place on a flat board
5. Dip both sides of the liver in the flour and coat well
6. Melt half the butter in a frying pan and fry the liver for about 4 minutes on both sides
7. In a second frying pan melt the rest of the butter and gently fry the apple on both sides, until just soft.
8. Drizzle lemon juice over the liver and sprinkle with lemon zest, place on a warm platter
9. NB Turn off the cooker’s overhead extractor fan before the next step.
10. Pour the Calvados over the apples and light it
11. Once flames have gone out spoon the apples and juice over the cooked liver and serve straight away
Serve hot accompanied by some mashed potato or tagliatelle and a small glass of Christian Drouin Calvados. Available at the French Market shop in Cape Town.
Bon Appetit!
Suzanne and The French Market Team
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