Bonjour French Market Friends,
In France today, Thursday before Easter, the church bells remain silent as the churches prepare to celebrate Easter. The explanation the children are given is that the Bells have sprouted wings and flown to Rome to be blessed by the Pope. When they return on Easter Sunday, they bring lots of chocolates with them, which are hidden in the children’s gardens by the Bells, as they fly back to their church belfries. There is no truth in the rumour that th
e Bells are making a break for it, with the missing 12 tons of Kit Kat chocolates that have disappeared between Rome and Poland, nor that the Kit Kats will be found in the French village gardens.
Back home in in our beautiful city the time has raced by, it seems we celebrated Christmas last week and now we are busy preparing for the Easter weekend. We have already seen lots of visitors in our shop this week as they buy treats for their Easter meals.
We have ordered plenty of baguettes and hot cross buns from Woodstock bakery for Good Friday. I’m certain they will be better than the mass-produced ones in the local supermarkets. We will sell them individually as not everyone wants a whole tray. I suggest stock up on some of our French butter to spread on the buns, there is
no better combination than a warm bun piled with a thick layer of real butter.
We have fresh free range farm eggs which are ideal for children to paint, for the Easter table decorations, as they are huge. Most of the eggs have double yolks as well, so there is plenty of nutritious food for the children, after they have had fun painting the eggs.
Kilos of stunn
ing French cheese landed safely this week, in time for you to enjoy a delicious cheese platter with your Easter celebrations. The creamiest is the Vacherousse from the Jura, the strongest in aroma is the Munster from Alsace and Epoisses from Burgundy. The firm goat’s milk crottin is unique. The best firm texture cheese is the Comte which is aged for more than 16 months in the Fort St Antoine in the Jura. The best Blue is the Roquefort, which the French describe as the King of the blue cheeses. We have a cheese to suit every taste. Do ask us to make platters for you – we can pack them in our original cheese boxes so your guests will know that the cheese has come all the way from France. 
For the Children’s Easter egg hunts, we have a selection of the best Italian Baci chocolates from Perugia – individually wrapped or in small packs that you can hide around the garden or in the house. For Easter breakfast, I suggest you stock up on our amazing frozen croissants and pain au chocolat that have come all the way from Fran
ce. You can pop them in the air fryer or bake them in the oven.
Serve your freshly home-baked croissants with some of our delicious French Bon Maman jams – the reason why the Bon Maman jams taste so good is because they are naturally made, without preservatives, from fully ripened fruit that is picked at the optimum moment, then slowly cooked to ensure the best flavours are captured in the jams. We have several different flavours including Strawberry, Apricot, Blueberry, Raspberry and Cherry.
For a special treat we have tins of caviar in various sizes, from different sturgeon. Including the robust flavoured Baerii sturgeon and the gentler flavoured, golden coloured, Asetra caviar from the Huso Gueldenstaedtii sturgeon (in 15gr tins 
which are a perfect size for a little treat), which has the unmistakeable aftertaste of hazelnuts. We have a new caviar, the Persicus Royal caviar, originally from Iran, this sturgeon is now farmed in the fresh mountain lakes in Madagascar. The flavour is robust with buttery undertones and a pronounced marine flavour. We can get Beluga caviar on a pre-order basis.
We also have the large pink salmon roe Keta and the small black lumpfish roe. All of these can be served with a dollop of our Delice triple cream cheese, on our new stock of blinis from Paris, or the locally made, mini hand-crafted blinis.
For this week’s recipe I decided to share a tasty roast lamb dish based on a recipe from Normandie, the sauce is made with Calvados (apple brandy) which gives it a fragrant taste. I suggest pairing with a Southern Rhone wine, the Pavillon St Pierre a blend of grenache and Shiraz, or a glass of Calvados.
I wish you a very happy Festive weekend – Joyeuse Pacques – Happy Easter.
Regards
Suzanne and The French Market Team