Bonjour French Market Friends,
The film industry has all eyes on the 70th Cannes Film Festival this week, as the 
latest films from top global producers are screened in front of a jury. Outsiders can buy tickets, but they are limited and prices appear to be around E18,000 for a pair of seats. In addition, you will need to be clothed in designer outfits which will set you back a lot more. South Africa is represented by several industry members including Film maker Dane Dodds whose documentary “Re-Collection” has been selected as one of 11 Spotlighted Projects for the Marche du Film.
In alignment with the French passion for Freedom and Equality – an open-air movie site “Cinema de la Plage” is set up for the Public on the Mace 
beach, on La Croisette, the public beachfront walkway. Selected great classic movies are shown every evening at the Cinema de la Plage. In honour of the passing of iconic French actress Brigitte Bardot, the City of Cannes announced they will name this beach after her Plage brigitte Bardot.
Back here in Cape Town one of the tallest sailing boats in the world, Eos, 
cruised gracefully along our coast in front of the beach at Camps Bay. It seemed so close that we were waiting for them to put down anchor and come in for a cappuccino on the beach front strip. Apparently, Luke Cottle, the Captain of the boat for the last 20 years, is a past pupil of Camps Bay High, so maybe he was checking out his old school.
This weekend our city is hosting the Sanlam Cape Town 
Marathon, so watch out for road closures around the city centre and Southern Suburbs. Luckily you can always access the Gardens shopping Centre from the top of the city. Which is just as well as you need to be sure you can access your favourite cheese supplies.
We have plenty of cheese stock for your weekend celebrations. If you have friends running the Marathon, you will need a good platter of great cheese to 
share with them. To add lots of calcium to their diet I suggest include a good chunk of Le Gruyere, a wedge of Tommes des Croquants – a nutty mountain cheese washed with the liqueur of walnuts, a slice of Ossau Iraty sheep’s milk cheese, a washed rind pungent Munster, a wedge of creamy Vacherousse and a generous slice of handcrafted Brie from the Vosge region. Finish this off with a slice of Roquefort which is still on a 30% special your friends will love you.
This week we have received two new products from Coste 
Liguria, a producer based in the Ligurian region on the Italian Riviera in the northwest of Italy, where fresh produce grows abundantly. Their products are gluten free and created with locally grown, fresh produce. One product is Crema di Noci, walnut cream sauce. This sauce, with its rich yet delicate flavor, is one of the highlights of traditional Ligurian cuisine. The sauce has a thick texture and a nutty aroma, it’s an excellent condiment for all pasta dishes, such as lasagna, fresh pasta, and ravioli. It can also be used as an appetiser, spread on crostini or a slice of freshly baked bread.
The second product is Crema di Carciofi, Artichoke cream sauce. This 
traditional sauce is made with artichokes and olive oil. It can be used in many ways but the simplest is spread on lightly toasted slices of fresh baguette and served as an appetiser. It’s so simple but so tasty and makes a change from the average packet of chips. A second dish is pasta tossed in the artichoke cream sauce. All you do is make fresh pasta (or cook some readymade pasta) and toss the pasta in this sauce, it is delicious and so easy. If you wish to make your own pasta, we do stock the 00 flour from Italy, that
you need for pasta, because it makes a soft dough which is easy to stretch.
With our runners in town loading up on carbs, for this week’s recipe I decided to share a recipe for homemade pasta served with this new artichoke sauce from Italy. Making fresh pasta is not as hard as one thinks. It just takes a little time, the effort is definitely worth it, and the feeling of achievement makes it feel worthwhile.
Wine pairing with the taste of artichoke needs to be dry, I suggest pairing with our Crémant from Alsace, a brut sparkling wine made in the traditional Methode Champenoise by Gustave Laurentz, to celebrate your fresh made pasta.
I wish you a great weekend, if you are running the Marathon, Best of Luck to you, I shall be relaxing in my shop 🙂
Regards
Suzanne and The French Market Team