Bonjour French Market Friends,
The Summer Olympics in Paris continues to excite us. Last Saturday’s Olympics Rugby 7s match play off at the Stade de France, between the French and our Blitzbokke was thrilling, even though the French won, which was not surprising given the support expressed by the locals. Their much-loved and world acclaimed Antoine Dupont, was given roaring encouragement as he came on later in the match and proceeded to score several vital points. After last year’s Springbok team beating France in the Rugby World Cup, The French were delighted to win the Rugby 7s Gold medal on their home territory, whilst our players scored a well-deserved Bronze medal. All eyes have been watching as our amazing sports people compete, Tatjana Smith swam to a Gold medal and Alan Hatherley on his mountain bike cycled cross country to a Bronze medal.
Whilst the world watches Paris, the rest of France has gone on their annual summer holidays from mid-July until end of August. Annually most Parisiennes trek off to the coast or their holiday homes in the countryside. Sunbathers are stretched out along the beautiful beaches and splash in the clear azure blue sea. With heatwave alerts “Cannicule” in many places, today in Nice the Mediterranean Sea reached a nearly record temperature of 30C, another sign of global warming.
Sitting here in Cape Town, on top of the heater, its hard to imagine basking in the sun, I would definitely prefer to be relaxing on a beach in France. Our weather continues to be icy cold, all of us think this is the coldest winter ever, but of course, we say this each year as we are so used to our mild mediterranean climate. There is nothing like rich cheese to warm you up in the middle of winter.
In our little shop we have a wonderful array of cheese available this week. Now is the time to enjoy the Alpine cheeses such a
s Comte from the Jura, Beaufort from the Franche Comte, Tomme from the Savoie, Emmental from the Vosges, Le Gruyere and Appenzeller from Switzerland. These are all raw milk cheeses which are made in exactly the same method as in the ancient days when there was no pasteurisation of the milk. Each one has a unique flavour, the milder one is the Tomme de Savoie which has been aged for a minimum of 6 months, this is a good cheese served at breakfast as it has less pungency than the others. Next is the 16-month aged Comte with a lovely fruity dense taste. The flavour deepens with the Beaufort and the Appenzeller and Le Gruyere are intense. I suggest treat yourself to a platter of small slices of each one to compare.
Apart from the mountain cheese we have little smelly Munster from Alsace, Pont l’Eveque and Ca
membert from Normandie, creamy Vacherousse and triple cream Delice are some of the most popular, gentler flavoured cheeses. In our goat and sheep’s milk range we have Buche de chevre, a goat’s cheese log with a crumbly centre and white crust, little crottins of fresh goats’ cheese, a St Maure, which is a smaller log of soft goat’s cheese dusted with ash. In our sheep’s milk range, we have some Ossau Iraty a hand crafted, dry crusted, firm cheese with a subtle flavour and from across the Pyrenees in Spain, we have Manchego with the distinctive pattern on the crust. In our blue sheep’s milk cheese range we have Roquefort, the most famous of the blue cheeses, due to its strong, salty taste. Do come in and be tempted to try some.
In our meat range we have a collection of small French terrines made with pork, duck, and goose meat. We have received a new stock of saucisson sec and saucisson sec flavoured with truffle. We have duck liver mousse from France and coarse textured pork terrine. We have sliced Prosciutto crudo ham from Italy which pairs beautifully with our Italian burrata and water buffalo mozzarella.
From Italy we also have a range of truffle products, sauces, creams, carpaccio (thin slices of truffle in oil) oil, zest (for dusting over your dish) and frozen pasta filled with a truffle and mushroom filling. From France we have Truffle flavoured Jurassienne cheese. This firm textured cheese has flakes of black truffle in the cheese. We also have the stunning brie layered with truffle cream. We can always order fresh truffles for you, we need about 24 hours notice.
In our sw
eeter range, in addition to the Chocolate rum truffles, traditional nougat, almond amaretti, canneles, and madeleines, we have received a stock of traditional Halva made by a Lebanese chef from a traditional recipe. The Halva is made in two different versions in 100g tubs, there is the Pistachio Halva and there is the Halva made with chocolate, they both taste amazing.
Many recipes have been developed in the Alps, where the farmers were kept indoors due to the snow. Their cows stayed warm in the large barns and fed on hay that had been cut during the summertime. The cheeses the farmers made, were designed to last duri
ng the winter, to feed their families and to sell afterwards. The farmers took their great wheels of cheese down to the markets when the snowy paths down the mountains reopened in spring. The flavour of the cheese was greatly enhanced during its long winter maturation.
One of my favourite winter dishes is a cheese fondue, this dish is usually made with three types of grated alpine cheese. It was originally used by the farmers when a chunk of cheese had dried out and was too hard to eat so they grated it and melted it. Fondue is a very easy recipe to make, the cheese is gently heated in a pot that was rubbed with raw garlic and 
eaten by dipping chunks of fresh bread into the melted cheese. Instead of, or as well as bread, you can also use florets of cauliflower broccoli and slices of apple. Each family has their own version, part of the fun is the traditional family game that is played. The first person who loses their piece of bread in the fondue has to pay a forfeit, depending on the age of the person this could range from drinking a glass of wine, or reciting a poem, singing a song, or wearing a funny hat. In my Fondue recipe I use Comte, Emmental and Tomme de Savoie you can also use Le Gruyere, Beaufort, and Appenzeller. I recommend pairing with a glass Prince d’Abbes Riesling and some Kirschwasser which we have in stock.
Stay warm and cosy indoors until Spring comes.
Regards
Suzanne and The French Market Team