Bonjour French Market friends,
Our city is coming back to normal after a very busy Christmas and New Year season, for which we are all truly grateful. There was plenty to attract tourists here including the 50th Cape to Rio race, with entries from around the world. Plus some local sailors including well-known local musician Ard Mathews from Just Jinger on his boat The Impossible Machine, which also has a recording studio on board. This boat took part in the very first Cape to Rio race. Unfortunately, her age was against her in the wild weather out in the Atlantic and her rig was damaged, she had to retire to the safety of St Helena where she will be repaired. I wonder if Ard will record a song in his onboard studio about this exciting adventure while he waits for the repairs. (Image Esa Alexander)
Here in our shop we have been re-stocking after the Peak Season. We have received a new stock of the raw milk Camemberts from Normandie. There is no comparison to the taste and texture of these authentic Camemberts. The creamy milk that produces these cheeses comes from cow’s grazing on the rich pastures of Normandie.
The Black winter fresh truffle season has started. The formal name is Tuber Melanosporum. Growing in La Norcia region, these are some of the rarer truffles much prized for their intense aroma. The colour is dark brown to black with white veins inside. We bring them in on a pre-order basis, please contact me for more details.
One of our most popular snacking products is the Truffle chips from Spain, we now have them back in the 40g pack which are perfect for a little self-indulgent snack with a glass of wine..or two.
There were shortages of some products for many months which have finally returned. Also from Spain we finally have received a stock of La Dalia smoked Paprika, we have the sweet Paprika and the hot paprika.
I had the pleasure to entertain some friends for lunch on Sunday and I decided to make a relatively easy seafood salad. Having a speciality food shop does mean I have access to a lot of beautiful products. Most of the time we can get stocks of a wide range of sea food including fresh seabass, oysters, black mussels, frozen crab, crayfish, shrimps, and lots more. The West Coast oysters I served as a little starter beforehand were absolutely delicious. We can get them closed or shucked and they come in a variety of sizes, you need to pre-order about 1 day ahead. The seafood salad I made by lightly poaching different types of seafood with some bay leaves and cloves, see recipe here. I served this with a homemade garlic mayonnaise and I paired the dish with some Cotes du Rhone Rose by E.Guigal.
I hope you have a great weekend – relax in the sun, eat good food and generally have a good time.
Regards
Suzanne and The French Market Mob